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My abstract algebra class had it exactly backwards. It started with a lot of needless formalism culminating in galois theory. This was boring to most students a

My abstract algebra class had it exactly backwards. It started with a lot of needless formalism culminating in galois theory. This was boring to most students as they had no clue why the formalism was invented in the first place. Instead, I wished it showed how the sausage was actually made in the original writings of galois [1]. This would have been far more interesting to students, as it showed the struggles that went into making the product - not to mention the colorful personality of the founder. The history of how concepts were invented for the problems faced is far more motivating to students to build a mental model than canned capsules of knowledge. [1] https://www.ams.org/notices/201207/rtx120700912p.pdf https://www.ams.org/notices/201207/rtx120700912p.pdf

inetknght 1y ago
> This was boring to most students as they had no clue why the formalism was invented in the first place. > The history of how concepts were invented for the problems faced is far more motivating to students to build a mental model than canned capsules of knowledge. That's something I really like about 3blue1brown, and he says it straight up [0]: > My goal is for you to come away feeling like you could have invented calculus yourself. That is, cover all those core ideas, but in a way that makes clear where they actually come from, and what they really mean, using an all-around visual approach. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUvTyaaNkzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUvTyaaNkzM