This assignment from M.I.T.’s communication-intensive offering of Real Analysis asks students to explain a statement of their choice from analysis to three (substantially different) audiences of their choice. This assignment was developed by the 18.100C team, especially Susan Ruff, Joel Lewis, and Craig Desjardins. This version of the assignment is from Kyle Ormsby.
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To communicate successfully, it’s necessary to consider the audience’s knowledge and interests and the communicator’s relationship to the audience. These determine how much motivation to give, how much detail to include, how much content to try to convey, and even what to choose as the main point of the communication (this list is by no means exhaustive!). Without a conscious awareness of these effects, students may inappropriately try to apply strategies successful in one situation (e.g., math problem sets) to all situations. So students can benefit from some guidance about how to communicate mathematics to a variety of audiences. Communicating
Read more →Context: This lesson plan is from a weekly communication recitation that accompanies M.I.T.’s Real Analysis. This week students learn about integrability and the fundamental theorem of calculus (Rudin pp. 128-136). Possible trouble spots for students include multiple quantifiers, formalizing concepts, and uniform continuity vs. convergence. Authors: This recitation was developed primarily by Joel B. Lewis, Craig Desjardins, and Susan Ruff Communication objectives: Analyze the rhetorical context of a communication and design the communication appropriately. Recitation Pair or small-group discussion: How would you explain the mean value theorem to a physics major who’s asking for help in a required math class?
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