![]() ![]() One student designed a mobile to prove that the intersections of shapes balance. ![]() For example, they explained what Archimedes did by emphasizing visual ways of understanding and then invited students to devise their own techniques of visual analysis and explanation and apply them to Archimedes’ early version of calculus. Hicks and Roby strove to make the mathematics of harmony tangible. “Even if you head down the wrong road, if something comes out of it, that’s valuable.”Īdded Roby, “We’ve created a space where people feel comfortable saying ‘I had trouble with this.’ That shows up in the creativity with the ways students approach the homework sets.” “It’s rigorous math, always with the goal of looking at problems and thinking about patterns and ways to solve them,” said Hicks. The course fulfilled the Arts and Sciences MQR (Mathematics & Quantitative Reasoning) requirement The students reflected the course’s interdisciplinary nature, majoring in math, physics, engineering, classics, architecture, biology and music. Math is about exploration and strategy and creatively finding solutions,” said Roby. “We’re trying to push the idea that math is not one size fits all but there are other ways to solve problems. The course focused on symmetry and harmony as central concepts built on a long history of mathematical exploration in a variety of domains (geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music), not just in the European mathematical tradition but also in mathematical texts from China, India, and the Islamic world. Each week, students received individual feedback on their homework and a group response that synthesized the journal discussion contributions, “which provides additional space for collaborative learning based upon shared experiences, both frustrations and successes,” noted Hicks. In addition to in-class games, students had problem sets and a group journal in which they posted their thoughts on solving the problem. The activities distill proofs into other ways of thinking,” said Courtney Roby, associate professor of classics, who co-taught the course with Andrew Hicks, associate professor of music and medieval studies. “We turn concepts into games to encourage students to think about how to prove them. The game was one of many engaged learning challenges students faced over the course of the spring 2017 semester in CLASS 2642 - The Art of Math: Mathematical Traditions of Symmetry and Harmony. Invented in the 11th century by monks in southern Germany, “Rithmomachia” means “a battle of numbers.” To win, they needed at least three pieces in enemy territory in a straight line, in which the pieces present one or more of the three Pythagorean means (arithmetic, geometric or harmonic). In a basement room in Lincoln Hall, students juggled pieces, game boards and instructions, determined to come out the winner in an intense game of Rithmomachia, a medieval game once more popular than chess. ![]()
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