So You’re Going to Lead a Math Circle （所以你要领导一个数学圈）.pdfVIP

So You’re Going to Lead a Math Circle (preliminary version) Emily McCullough and Tom Davis emily.m.mccullough@, tomrdavis@ /mathcircles August 16, 2013 Abstract You’ve been invited to lead a math circle and you’ve never done it before. This article will not only try to explain what a math circle is (as opposed to, say, a normal lecture, or a math club meeting), but it will include some hints about what to prepare, how to prepare, and what you can expect. 1 Math circles in general 1.1 What is a math circle? A math circle is a group of students (usually motivated high school or middle school students) led by a mathematician who get together each week to learn mathematics. Often the leader changes regularly which has a few advantages: • The leader doesn’t get burned out; it’s easy and fun to prepare a couple of pre- sentations per year for motivated students. • The students see different mathematical styles and different topics. • The leader can make the same presentation at multiple circles if there is more than one circle in the area. Math circles are different from the typical high school “math club”: • Circles emphasize problem solving. • Circles don’t necessarily cover material from the standard curriculum. • Circles get students to think; they are generally not designed to drill the students for mastery of a skill or topic (although sometimes they can be designed to do this and the students don’t even realize that it’s happening). To assure that the circle session you lead goes as well as possible: 1 • Circle sessions often concentrate on problem solving techniques applicable in many areas