I have a guest blog post that appears on the White Group Mathematics blog here. (My first guest post!) Here’s a taste:
One thing I love about math, and particularly combinatorics and probability, is the fact that many methods exist for solving the same problem.
Each method may have its advantages. The advantage might be conceptual (as in “this makes most sense to me”) or the advantage might be computational (as in “this is the fastest way to do it”).
Discussing the merits of different methods is exactly what math class is for!
For example, check out this typical probability question that could appear in a Precalculus course:
The Texas Ranger pitching staff has 5 right-handers and 8 left-handers. If 2 pitchers are selected at random to warm up, what is the probability that at least one of them is a right-hander?
In fact, it’s one I use in my own Precalculus course and it generated a great class discussion. In teaching it this past year, I ended up showing students four ways to do the problem this year! Here they are…
For the epic conclusion of this post, visit White Group Mathematics. 