Concept Maps and Problems: Expressing One Variable in Terms of Others – John Mays

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2012 Workshop Talk | 1:03:53 | Leadership & Strategic

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Summary

Every calculus teacher knows that a skill critical to success in the study of calculus and physics is the ability to express one variable in terms of others. While students may be able to execute a given integral formulaically, if students cannot set up the integral in the first place from given physical information they are at a dead end. This workshop will use concept maps to explore the cognitive process involved in expressing one variable in terms of others. Concept-map analysis of actual problems will reveal the complexities involved in variable re-expression, and teachers will gain insight into the pedagogical challenge of helping students develop this critical skill.

Speaker

After receiving his BS in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, John D. Mays spent 14 years in industry in engineering and engineering management in the areas of electrical, controls, and telecommunications systems Vocationally drawn toward the eld of education, Mr Mays acquired an MEd in secondary education from the University of Houston in 1989, and subsequently completed 36 hours of graduate study in physics at Texas A&M Shortly after joining the faculty at Regents School of Austin in 1999, John began work on an MLA at St EdwardÍs University, which he completed in 2003 John served as the Math-Science Department Chair at Regents School of Austin from 2001 until 2009 when he became director of the Laser Optics Lab at Regents He founded Novare Science and Math in 2009, and is the author of numerous student science texts and teacher resources Now working full time as writer, publisher, and consultant, John continues to teach students part time at the Laser Optics Lab at Regents.

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