Change the Dog: Matrix Transformations

Calculus Questionnaire

It's a new year. Classes will be filled with students who don't remember much about math and aren't interested in understanding it except for getting a decent grade. The more a teacher knows about his students' abilities, anxieties, knowledge and previous experiences will go a long way toward his students' success.

So David Peterson, a.k.a. @calcdave, came up with this fantastic questionnaire. The questions are thought-provoking. The answers to the questions can be enlightening for teachers. I'm passing this along to a dual-credit college algebra and calculus teacher I know to see what responses he gets. This teacher thought it would be a great idea to make one for his college algebra classes, as well. Can't wait for the results.

Thanks David, for helping get this year off to a fun start!

Jeopardy: The Algebra Category

If you're a fan of Jeopardy, then you know that each week, there is a math category. This week, during the Teen Tournament, there was an algebra category. These kids were pretty sharp so they got every answer correct. Can you give every answer in the form of a question?

• $200: If x^2 = 144, then x=___.
• $800: If 3x+y=10 and y=1 then x=____.
• $1200: If it takes 5 seconds to cover the straights of an oval track and 2 seconds to cover the curves, then it takes this long to go around one time.
• $1600: These are the coordinates of the intersection of the x- and y-axis in the Cartesian coordinate system.
• $2000: To expand (3x+5)(2x+4), using the FOIL means this.