Showing posts with label edu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edu. Show all posts
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Indiscrete Thoughts: by Gian-Carlo Rota
The conventional approach to teaching abstract ideas and natural sciences are sometimes phrased as, "I do not know how true the story is, I will tell you as it was told to me" [1].
There has been several attempts to break the conventional method of passing the lecture notes from one generation to another so that the classroom environment and learning could be implemented in more effective ways [2]. In the context of discussing the philosophical aspects of what effective teaching and learning environment means to student-teacher relationship, and more importantly to learning, I would like to briefly review the book by Gian-Carlo Rota [3]. Rota was one of the most respected and popular teachers at MIT. He taught difficult but very popular courses in probability, and Applications of Calculus [4].
Rota, as described by others, has always been portrayed as a successful teacher [6]. The book successfully grabs a very rare story told from the perspective of a mathematician and a philosopher. Reading through the book gives a rare glimpse of what it takes to be a successful teacher. The deep philosophy behind every classroom activities and professional life has been elaborated in beautiful ways. The learning theme such as "You learn what you don't know you are learning"; "By and large, 'knowing how' matters more than 'knowing what' " [5] forms the basis of the same philosophy when it comes to teaching. "Ten Lessons I wish I had been taught" and "Ten Lessons for the survival of a Mathematics Department", not only applies to mathematics professionals and students but equally to any academicians. Moreover, it is equally delightful to read his other chapters which involves portrayal of many famous scientists as human beings. The book is absolutely spellbinding.
References:
[1] Sir Walter Scott: "I tell the tale as it was told to me." http://www.readprint.com/work-5618/My-Aunt-Margaret-s-Mirror-Sir-Walter-Scott.
[2] http://uni600.pbworks.com/Annotated+Bibliography
[3] Gian-Carlo Rota. Ed: Palombi, Fabrizio. Indiscrete Thoughts. Boston: Birkhäuser, 2008.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian-Carlo_Rota
[5] http://www.math.tamu.edu/~cyan/Rota.html
[6] Wesley T. Chan (December 5, 1997). "To Teach or Not To Teach: Professors Might Try a New Approach to Classes -- Caring about Teaching". The Tech 117 (63). http://tech.mit.edu/V117/N63/chan.63c.html.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Moon Pictures from Observatory @Earth Science Department
For long time I was not aware of the 16inch telescope located at the roof top of the Earth Science Department @ SUNY Albany.
This year I am doing Teaching assistant ship job for Prof. Knuth's Star Systems class. (http://knuthlab.rit.albany.edu/courses/F09/StarSystems/)
Today provided very nice opportunity to invite students for stargazing through twitter and Phil's Black Board page. It was dark enough by 7 PM. The night sky was very very clear. We did some observations including Moon and Jupiter.
Here are some pics taken by my Mobile.
Please note that I could get only some portion in the field of view. Let me tell you:
It was amazing
Got a blurred version captured. You can see three of the Jupiter's Moons.
http://www.atmos.albany.edu/mars/telescope-2.html
This year I am doing Teaching assistant ship job for Prof. Knuth's Star Systems class. (http://knuthlab.rit.albany.edu/courses/F09/StarSystems/)
Today provided very nice opportunity to invite students for stargazing through twitter and Phil's Black Board page. It was dark enough by 7 PM. The night sky was very very clear. We did some observations including Moon and Jupiter.
Here are some pics taken by my Mobile.
Please note that I could get only some portion in the field of view. Let me tell you:
It was amazing
http://www.atmos.albany.edu/mars/telescope-2.html
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Heading for MaxEnt2009, Ole, Mississippi
Today I am heading to Oxford, Mississippi for MaxEnt2009 conference.
http://www.olemiss.edu/conf/maxent2009/
This is a week long conference discussing on wide variety of topics on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering. Topics range from foundations of probability theory, information theory, and inference and inquiry to astronomy and astrophysics, genetics, geophysics, medical imaging, material science, nanoscience, source separation, particle physics, quantum mechanics, plasma physics, chemistry, earth science, climate studies, engineering and robotics.
It gives a thrilling experience to see all the dignified scientists in the same conference and have an opportunity to present the work.
I will be presenting my work on Spatial Sensititivity Function (SSF) of a point sensor in the conference.
Experimental Guys should find it to be an interesting piece of application of Bayesian Inference Methods (BIM).
Details will be posted as I put my work on arxiv.
Last year the conference was organized in Sao Paulo,Brazil.
http://www.nabinkm.com/2008/07/heading-for-maxent-2008-brazil-today.html
http://www.olemiss.edu/conf/maxent2009/
This is a week long conference discussing on wide variety of topics on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering. Topics range from foundations of probability theory, information theory, and inference and inquiry to astronomy and astrophysics, genetics, geophysics, medical imaging, material science, nanoscience, source separation, particle physics, quantum mechanics, plasma physics, chemistry, earth science, climate studies, engineering and robotics.
It gives a thrilling experience to see all the dignified scientists in the same conference and have an opportunity to present the work.
I will be presenting my work on Spatial Sensititivity Function (SSF) of a point sensor in the conference.
Experimental Guys should find it to be an interesting piece of application of Bayesian Inference Methods (BIM).
Details will be posted as I put my work on arxiv.
Last year the conference was organized in Sao Paulo,Brazil.
http://www.nabinkm.com/2008/07/heading-for-maxent-2008-brazil-today.html
Friday, December 19, 2008
Tips For Nepali Students Applying to the United States/Aboard !!
Studying in US Universities have been passion for all students of this time.
There are many tips and associated "should know" factors.
I found this article, in particular, to be interesting.
http://www.rednepal.com/2008/12/for-nepali-students-applying-to-states.html (dead link at the moment)
At this stage, it looks like students can just do some googling (or yahoo search) and get enough information with in an hour.
However, where to start may still be good question holding one back.
I did write some tips in Time!
They are...
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/2008/05/cookbook-approach-to-applying-to-us.html
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/2007/08/applying-to-us-universities.html
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/2007/07/statement-of-purpose.html
Under:
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/search/label/apply
I will be writing...
Update:
One more link...
A very elaborated work on "how to ..." was found in here ...
http://himylinks.blogspot.com/2008/12/graduate-schools-in-physics-in-usa-some.html
There are many tips and associated "should know" factors.
I found this article, in particular, to be interesting.
http://www.rednepal.com/2008/12/for-nepali-students-applying-to-states.html (dead link at the moment)
At this stage, it looks like students can just do some googling (or yahoo search) and get enough information with in an hour.
However, where to start may still be good question holding one back.
I did write some tips in Time!
They are...
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/2008/05/cookbook-approach-to-applying-to-us.html
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/2007/08/applying-to-us-universities.html
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/2007/07/statement-of-purpose.html
Under:
http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com/search/label/apply
I will be writing...
Update:
One more link...
A very elaborated work on "how to ..." was found in here ...
http://himylinks.blogspot.com/2008/12/graduate-schools-in-physics-in-usa-some.html