Does our approach to teaching math fail even the smartest kids?

“Does our approach to teaching math fail even the smartest kids?” is the title of a great article published on the Great Schools website which liberally quotes our good friend Richard Rusczyk.  Following are a few key points made, but please go and read the whole article for yourself (and pass it along to other [...]

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March 3, 2012 – Dr. Titu Andreescu – “More Contest Problems”

With the AMC 10 and 12 contests behind us, some students will be preparing for the AIME while many will be working hard to improve their scores next year.  Both groups will not want to miss Dr. Titu Andreescu this weekend as he presents more of his favorite problems and solutions. Titu Andreescu received his Ph.D. [...]

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April 2 – LaTeX Tutorial and Resources Beyond Math Circles

This coming Saturday we will have two lectures in one.  Students who are not yet proficient in LaTeX will learn this critical skill while parents and other students are encouraged to come hear about the resources that will help build on their love of problem solving while opening up new academic and professional opportunities. LaTeX [...]

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Another Math Circle Veteran Wins the Top Prize in Intel Science Talent Search

Evan O’Dorney, an active participant in the Berkeley Math Circle was the $100,000 winner of this year’s Intel Science Talent Search.  He joins last years’ winner, Amy Chyao, in continuing the connection between math circles and this prestigious contest. WASHINGTON, D.C., March 15, 2011 – Honoring high school seniors with exceptional promise in math and [...]

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Zvezdelina Stankova Wins Nation’s Highest Math Teaching Award

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=&station=kgo&section=&mediaId=7981842&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site= The Mathematical Association of America awarded Dr. Zvezdelina Stankova the Haimo Award for distinguished college teaching of math.  Dr. Stankova spoke to the Metroplex Math Circle last month and she is the founder and director of the excellent, Berkeley Math Circle. Please take the time to read the article and watch the video above [...]

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Eide: Mathematical Minds

The Eide Neurolearning Blog is an interesting resource for keeping up with the current advances in neuroscience and brain imaging.  In a recent post they discuss the uniqueness of mathematically gifted minds. It will not surprise math circle participants to hear that such brains approach math problems quite differently.  Traditional school programs may offer such [...]

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Fall 2008 Recap

This last semester marked some significant milestones in the first 3 years of the Metroplex Math Circle hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas. Participation Attendance for all Math Circle sessions was particularly high with at least 50 students, parents and teachers participating in each session.  This compares very favorably with many other math [...]

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Boston Globe: Colleges Scour China for Top Students

This was an interesting article earlier in the month about the strong interest that elite universities are taking in recruiting the best students from China. William Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s admissions dean, has the following to say in the article: Even fifth-graders in Wellesley, Newton, and Brookline, who as adults will face international competition for jobs, should [...]

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Dr. Arthur Benjamin Recap

Metroplex Math Circle’s first ever Special Presentation was a great success!  Over 330 people attended Dr. Arthur Benjamin’s presentation which demonstrated amazing feats of mental calculation. Dr. Benjamin amazed the crowd with his ability to multiply and square 4 and 5 digit numbers in his head.  But unlike other magicians, because Dr. Benjamin’s “tricks” are [...]

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Math Circe Profile: Berkeley

It might be interesting to look at several of the thriving Math Circles around the country.  The Berkeley Math Circle has an excellent site with monthly contest problems available for download.  Berkeley is also an excellent example of the positive impact that a Math Circle can have on its community.  Here is some information from [...]

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