Favorite Math Blogs

http://math-blog.com/


http://mrlaxton.blogspot.com/


http://elixkristin.blogspot.com/


http://www.hardenoughproblems.com/


http://ispeakmath.wordpress.com/


http://makingmathwork.wordpress.com/

Odds and Probability

When dealing with probability you can also determine the odds of an event. Odds and probability are different things. Probability is the likeliness or chance an event will happen. It is the number of the event happening over the total number of events. For example if you toss a coin the probability of getting a head is 1/2. Or if you roll two dice the probability you will roll the sum of 2 is 1/36. This differs from Odds. When dealing with odds of an event it is the number of the event happening over the number of the event not happening or vice versa depending on weather you are dealing with odds in favor or odds against. If you roll a dice the odds in favor of getting heads would be 1/1.  If you rolled two dice the odds in favor of getting the sum of 2 would be 1/35

http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56706.html

 

 

Experimental vs Theoretical Probability

Within the world of probability there are different kinds that you can find and calculate. The two that I learned about are experimental probability and theoretical probability.  In layman’s terms, experimental probability is the exact outcomes a person gets when doing an experiment.  For example if a person tosses a coin 10 times and record there outcomes they would be recording their mathematical probability. 



1.  T                 6.  H       

2.  T                 7.  T

3.  H                 8.  T

4.  T                 9.  T

5.  H                 10. T   

 

If these were the results from the coin toss, the probability of getting a tail was 7/10, and the probability of getting a head was 3/10. 

 When you are dealing with theoretical probability it is different than mathematical probability.  In basic terms if you do an experiment a large number of times you will get the theoretical probability.  So in terms of tossing a coin, if you toss it enough times you will come up with the probability of getting a tail as ½ and a head as ½. 

 

 

 

http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/theoretical-probability.html

 

Importance of Vocabulary

After my classmates and I did the worksheet on probability we then went over a list of key vocabulary words. Vocabulary is very important in probability. You must understand the key words to be able to figure out the problem. If a question is asked what is the sample space of this event for example and you had no knowledge on what sample space meant you could not figure out the problem, even though you may know the answer. If you are not familiar with the mathematical jargon you will not do very well. It is important to familiarize yourself with the terminology to be successful in any area you are studying.

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol6/intro_probability.html

Teaching Styles

When the teacher began the lesson on probability, she handed all of us a worksheet and told us to complete it. There also would have been manipulatives involved but someone threw them away so we were just told what the manipulatives would have been. There was little instruction about what we were to do, what probability was, and how we were to figure the problems out. We attempted the problems and answered the questions, and then the teacher explained this method as being an discovery learning method. This method differs from the teaching-learning method I was accustomed to. I was familiar with the teacher lecturing what we needed to know, then regurgitating the information I was just taught. Even though the exploring method seemed out of my element at first and was a little uncomfortable simply because I was not totally sure how to answer all of the questions, it makes much more sense. I was able to think and try for myself. I had to push myself to really be able to answer the questions. I definitely think this was a valuable lesson for me, as a future educator. It is vital to get students to try and learn for themselves. If I just lecture to my class they may not retain much of the information. If they work on it, and explore the math on their own they will remember a lot more. This lesson was a reminder that there are many different ways to teach students and many different learning styles.  I must try and accommodate for everyone.
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/strategies.html

Starting Probability

When my math course started with probability I did not know what to expect. I had spent very little time learning about it and grasping the concepts. I also learned just how many things in life are based around the laws of probability. Just consider casinos, gambling, genetics, computing, and you see all the mathematical probability that goes into it. When I started on my assignments the teacher stated that the mathematics involved in probability is not hard. It is grasping the concepts to set up the problems accurately to compute the probability that can be very difficult. As I worked on the problems she was entirely correct. The simplicity of the equations was nice. Just some simple addition, fractions, multiplication and division was all that was needed. Reading the questions and being able to set up the problems was a whole other obstacle to overcome. I am hoping that with some logical thinking I can become better at mastering the probability obstacles.