AndriusKulikauskas at 21:29, 16 December 2008

2008-12-16T21:29:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:29, 16 December 2008
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	[http://www.ms.lt Minciu Sodas] is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.		[http://www.ms.lt Minciu Sodas] is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.

			Andrius Kulikauskas is founder and Direktorius. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics and (as of December 2008) is teaching algebra at [http://www.aubih.ba American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina].

			Edward Cherlin leads the [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthtreasury Earth Treasury] working group at Minciu Sodas.

			[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthtreasury/message/161 Andrius's letter to Edward, December 16, 2008]

			Edward,

			Yes! Please add my interest, and that of our Minciu Sodas laboratory
			http://www.ms.lt, to participate in your textbook project. I would gladly
			work for you or others to write open source textbooks in math, philosophy,
			fighting peacefully or other subjects. I alert others at our lab who
			might like to write textbooks.

			This semester I've been teaching algebra from my own notes:
			http://www.worknets.org/upload/AndriusKulikauskas/precalculus.pdf
			which are for teaching math based on the deep ideas behind it. I would
			like to write a short book based on that approach. I am thinking to call
			it "Classic Math Problems". Each problem would illustrate a particular
			idea. I would supplement the text with video and additional materials,
			exercises.

			So, for example, I tell my students that algebra is the study of "thinking
			in steps". And here is a problem that teaches that. Suppose you usually
			buy pants in the marketplace because the department store charges
			one-third more. But the store is now having a sale, and everything is
			one-third off. Where should you buy the pants?

			Quite a few people - and sophisticated people - might say that the price
			is now the same, for it is one-third off of one-third more. But if you
			think through it step by step, then you will see given x, that one-third
			more is 4/3 x, and 2/3 of 4/3 x is 8/9 x. So it will be cheaper at the
			store with the sale. For the question is "one-third of what?" This one
			problem is a good, self-contained point to communicate this idea. It is a
			sophisticated problem, but one that you can master. There are many
			variants, such as a stock price that goes up 1/3 and down 1/4, or a tax
			and a rebate. And if you learn 20 or 30 or 50 problems like that, then
			you know all of algebra, or certainly the fundamentals.

			Working together I'm sure we'd discover ways to support all manner of
			self-teaching approaches and preferences. Myself, I'd like to focus on
			self-learning adults (like at our lab) and I'm curious how that compares
			with children learning.

			I'm also interested in related resources. I've organized my students into
			20 teams of 4 or 5 students each. We're collecting quantities (amounts
			and units) for a Math Encyclopedia. Each team is working on a dimension
			like price, speed, distance, mass.
			http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?MathEncyclopedia
			My hope is that we'll have 1,000 or 2,000 facts in a few weeks and then
			can build from there.

			My work and Minciu Sodas's work is in the Public Domain and it would be
			great if that might always be an option, if not the default, in your
			mission. I wish for a culture centered on ethics rather than law.

			Please also know that you can participate at the COMMUNIA meetings in
			Europe through our lab. We're a member and we have travel money for our
			participants, including from the US. The next meetings are Jan 23 in
			Zurich, March in London and June in Turin, Italy. COMMUNIA is, I think,
			in need of such projects.

			I should learn this week if I'm teaching here next semester.

			Edward, Congratulations on your progress! Please keep us posted!

AndriusKulikauskas at 21:25, 16 December 2008

2008-12-16T21:25:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:25, 16 December 2008
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	[~~[Minciu Sodas~~ http://www.ms.lt]] is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.		[http://www.ms.lt Minciu Sodas] is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.

AndriusKulikauskas: New page: Minciu Sodas http://www.ms.lt is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.

2008-12-16T21:25:09Z

New page: Minciu Sodas http://www.ms.lt is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.

New page

[[Minciu Sodas http://www.ms.lt]] is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.

Minciu Sodas - Revision history

AndriusKulikauskas at 21:29, 16 December 2008

AndriusKulikauskas at 21:25, 16 December 2008

AndriusKulikauskas: New page: Minciu Sodas http://www.ms.lt is an online laboratory for serving and organizing independent thinkers.