MathPlus's definitions

No Calculators Allowed

When students’ reliance on a scientific or graphing calculator prevents them from being fluent in performing certain basic operations, such as factorizing a function, finding the zeros of a cubic polynomial, and standardizing a normal distribution from the Statistical Tables—ritually pressing a set of keys often conceals their poor understanding or mastery of these routines.

If only math teachers and tutors would implement the “No Calculators Allowed” rule, students would be manually forced to learn the routine or tedious steps in getting the answer to some intermediate step of a problem.

by MathPlus October 31, 2021

The Art of Masking

When properly handling or wearing a face mask is far from obvious, because a disturbing number of mask wearers are quasi-clueless how to properly protect themselves against the coronaviruses and their variants.

Like common sense that isn’t common after all, the general population needs to be continually exposed to the art of masking through health awareness campaigns to avoid preventable corona infections or deaths.

by MathPlus November 1, 2021

Blended Modeling

When you are at home with both Singapore’s bar model method and stack model method that you know which problem-solving visualization strategy is more suitable to solve certain types of word problems.

It’s an open secret that most Singapore math educators or coaches are ill-equipped to handle blended modeling—most are familiar with bar modeling, but few are fluent with the more intuitive stack modeling, in tackling brain-unfriendly math questions.

by MathPlus November 1, 2021

J🦠KER

Someone who does a prank by falsely sms-ing friends, colleagues, or relatives, or by lying on social media, that they had contracted Covid-19 and had been warded in an ICU in hospital.

Guesstimate how many corona pranks are being carried out by J🦠KERS every day worldwide, thus creating panic in the family, community, or country.

by MathPlus November 2, 2021

Xi Math

When math curriculums in China are expected to subtly incorporate some of Emperor Xi’s thought as well as to praise the mixed achievements of past and present mainland Chinese mathematicians and their IMO mathletes-medalists as part of the country’s rich mathematical heritage—when political ideology and mathematical glory could serve as a catalyst to raising the quantitative literacy or numeracy of a billion-odd people.

Brainwashing hundreds of millions of schoolchildren, including targeting those in the Chinese diaspora, with Xi math could usher in a new era in math education worldwide, which could challenge the elitist or supremacist position of Western math in coming decades—when exporting China math worldwide under the guise of raising global numeracy could be a modern form of intellectual colonialism.

by MathPlus September 5, 2021

Vice Math

Adult math questions that leverage on the activities that take place at karaoke lounges and nightclubs, which often illegally employ foreign-born hostesses to entertain both local and foreign male customers seeking some thrill they can’t get from their girlfriends and wives.

Can you solve this vice math problem? “The total number of Covid-19 cases linked to an infected KTV hostess so far is 128, who is traced to have had initial contact with two customers. Assuming that all infected patrons at the sleazy location each went on to share the virus with two other persons, what is the reproduction number R₀ for this cluster?”

by MathPlus September 6, 2021

Piterate

When someone knows enough about the number π that they are unlikely to be taken advantage of by mathematical charlatans or cranks.

A premium tuition center is inviting Prof. Pilate to conduct a recreational math lesson on “The Joy (and Pain) of Pi” for its privileged students, so that they’d not only be numerate but also piterate.

by MathPlus September 7, 2021