The study of loops and spaces in mathematics has been the subject of much interest among researchers. In Part 1 of "The Theory on Loops and Spaces," published in the "Mathematics Teaching Research Journal," introduced the concept and the basic underlying idea of this theory. This article continues the exploration of this topic…

This paper discusses the mathematical and didactical problems of teaching indefinite integral in the context of the ubiquitous availability of online integral calculators. The symbol of indefinite integral introduced by Leibniz, unfortunately, does not contain an indication of the interval on which the antiderivatives should be calculated. This…

Functions and formulas in spreadsheets provide an instructional opportunity to help students build their skills in identifying errors in their own work and identifying a path to go about correcting the errors. This paper provides examples of functions and equations used to create two approaches to calculating the solution to one problem, such as a…

A group of eighth-graders was presented with a two-day lab exploring graph theory as an enrichment experience. With the school's winter break looming, students were weary of solving linear equations, and this topic was intended to inject some new life into the classroom. In addition to learning about a completely new topic, they would be exposed…

Assessing sensitivity to unmeasured confounding is an important step in observational studies, which typically estimate effects under the assumption that all confounders are measured. In this paper, we develop a sensitivity analysis framework for balancing weights estimators, an increasingly popular approach that solves an optimization problem to…

This paper describes the implementation of problem-based learning in chemical education with regard to the impact that protolytic reactions have on equilibria. The problem-based task presented here is focused on extremely weak acids and calcuation of the pH value of their aqueous solutions. The task is based on comparisons of K[subscript a] ranges…

In a recent submission to "The Physics Teacher," we related how trigonometric identities can be used to find the extremes of several functions in order to solve some standard physics problems that would usually be considered to require calculus. In this work, the functions to be examined are polynomials, which suggests the utilization of…

There are many problems whose solution requires proof that a quadrilateral is cyclic. The main reason for writing this paper is to offer a number of new tools for proving that a particular quadrilateral is cyclic, thus expanding the present knowledge base and ensuring that investigators in mathematics and teachers of mathematics have at their…

When teaching a general education introductory astronomy course that includes a mathematics prerequisite, it is important to convey that formulas and equations physically represent properties of actual objects and processes that occur that can actually be observed. Students with varying comfort levels with mathematics often need to be convinced…

Recently, Lima lamented on the 'time-consuming and tiresome' pedagogical nature of repeated integration by parts, throwing down the challenge of providing a pencil-and-paper solution to a related problem in a few seconds. Lima put forth a simple formula as an alternative. In this work, I offer a response to Lima's challenge and his formula.…

In this note we introduce an infinite series which represents an interesting challenge for students with the relevant background.

Since the content of the Theory of Interest course in an actuarial science program is tied to an external exam, instructors may be hesitant to attempt to use inquiry-based learning. In this paper, I outline how and why I did so, including descriptions of the materials that I wrote. I found that student performance on the final exam improved…

The process of pairing a name with representations or peculiar properties permeates many mathematics classroom situations. In school, many practices go under the label 'definition', even though they can be very different from what mathematicians conceive as a formal definition, and in fact there are substantial differences between these different…

This article explains how explorations into the quadratic formula can offer students opportunities to learn about the structure of algebraic expressions. In this article, the author leverages the graphical interpretation of the quadratic formula and describes an activity in which students derive the quadratic formula by quantifying the symmetry of…

In issue 31(2) of the "Australian Senior Mathematics Journal", Kok (2017) describes a useful four-step process for investigating number patterns and identifying the underlying function. The process is demonstrated for both linear and quadratic functions. With respect to the quadratic example, I provide an additional idea relevant to step…