Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Math in the Media - Me??

I received a request recently to do an interview for the student-run newspaper here at Hopkins, called the Newsletter. It came as part of a series they do called "Things I have learned" and features short interviews here with professors to learn more about who they are, why they do what they do and where they see their future taking them.

I got contacted by a student Emily Nadelmann. Here is the article. It was fun, and gave me a chance to talk a bit about how I see my profession, my study and my interacitons with it. Give it a read. The title is

Professor discusses the artistic aspect of mathematics and teaching

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Math in the Media - Shock Therapy as a study technique??

Just ran across this report:

Electric brain stimulation can improve math skills

Read the article. An Oxford study has found that low levels of electrical stimulation of the brain (read: shock therapy?!!?) can improve math assessment skills. And these skills last for at least for a long time (at least half a year??).

I can already see the ill-advised do-it-yourself home implementations of this kind of study technique. Geez....

I can already see this giving other study aids a run for their money, no?