2022年12月18日 VOA慢速英語：數(shù)學(xué)教授連接印度、美國的教學(xué)方法

 

Growing up in India, Vinay Kanth Rao loved math and knew that he wanted to teach math someday.
在印度長大的 Vinay Kanth Rao 熱愛數(shù)學(xué)，并且知道他有朝一日想教數(shù)學(xué)。
 
After earning his master's degree in mathematics from the National Institute of Technology in Warangal, India, he entered the doctoral program at the University of Colorado in the United States. While Vinay was teaching a math class at Colorado, a student asked him a question that became a turning point for him about the subject.
在印度瓦朗加爾國家理工學(xué)院獲得數(shù)學(xué)碩士學(xué)位后，他進(jìn)入美國科羅拉多大學(xué)攻讀博士學(xué)位。當(dāng) Vinay 在科羅拉多州教數(shù)學(xué)課時，一個學(xué)生問了他一個問題，這個問題成為了他對這門學(xué)科的轉(zhuǎn)折點。
 
One of the students just asked me: ‘Why am I learning this?' Now, that is the question I did not ask myself for probably 25 years… That was when I realized, OK—if you're learning something, you should be able to use it, OK? Or at least, down the line, it should be applicable.
其中一名學(xué)生問我：“我為什么要學(xué)這個？” 現(xiàn)在，這是我大概 25 年來沒有問過自己的問題……那時我才意識到，好吧——如果你正在學(xué)習(xí)一些東西，你應(yīng)該能夠使用它，好嗎？或者至少，它應(yīng)該是適用的。
 
Vinay also learned that in the U.S. he could study not only math but, importantly, ways to teach math.
Vinay 還了解到，在美國他不僅可以學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)學(xué)，更重要的是可以學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)學(xué)教學(xué)方法。
 
In 2016 he transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he studied mathematics education at the Center for Science and Mathematics Education, or CSME. He was able to explore and develop ways of improving mathematics instruction.
2016 年，他轉(zhuǎn)到南密西西比大學(xué)，在科學(xué)與數(shù)學(xué)教育中心 (CSME) 學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)學(xué)教育。他能夠探索和開發(fā)改進(jìn)數(shù)學(xué)教學(xué)的方法。
 
Vinay said: "That decision changed my entire life."
維奈說：“那個決定改變了我的一生。”
 
Vinay brought increased use of visuals, computer games, and inquiry-based instruction to his teaching. Inquiry-based means students work together to answer questions with some help from a teacher rather than only listening to a teacher's explanation.
維奈在他的教學(xué)中更多地使用視覺效果、電腦游戲和基于探究的教學(xué)。探究式是指學(xué)生在老師的幫助下共同回答問題，而不是只聽老師的解釋。
 
Sherry Herron, a former director of CSME, was Vinay's mentor at Southern Mississippi. She talked about Vinay in an article on the university website: "I have never seen a student with such motivation, creativity, intelligence, and work ethic, and who can produce so much and so many diverse products."
CSME 的前主任雪莉·赫倫 (Sherry Herron) 是 Vinay在南密西西比州的導(dǎo)師。她在大學(xué)網(wǎng)站上的一篇文章中談到 Vinay ：“我從未見過有如此積極性、創(chuàng)造力、智慧和職業(yè)道德的學(xué)生，并且能夠生產(chǎn)出如此多、如此多樣化的產(chǎn)品。”
 
Active learning in India
印度的主動學(xué)習(xí)
 
In 2018, Vinay founded the Active Learning Institute in Warangal to bring the inquiry-based teaching method to students and teachers in India. He raised $15,000 to support it and traveled to Warangal several times before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed progress.
2018 年，Vinay 在瓦朗加爾成立了主動學(xué)習(xí)學(xué)院，將探究式教學(xué)法帶給印度的師生。他籌集了 15,000 美元來支持它，并在 COVID-19 大流行減緩進(jìn)展之前多次前往瓦朗加爾。
 
Vinay said that in India, mathematics education is so competitive that students feel like they are in a "pressure cooker." Many people in India think that becoming an engineer or a doctor are the only ways to find career success. This makes them feel extra pressure when they study math, and it often makes them dislike the subject.
維奈說，在印度，數(shù)學(xué)教育競爭激烈，學(xué)生們感覺自己就像在“高壓鍋”里。許多印度人認(rèn)為成為工程師或醫(yī)生是獲得職業(yè)成功的唯一途徑。這使他們在學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)學(xué)時感到額外的壓力，并且常常使他們不喜歡這門學(xué)科。
 
At the Active Learning Institute, Vinay is trying to change that. First, he teaches smaller groups of students—about 20 in a class—compared to normal classes with 60 to 100 students. Second, he uses inquiry-based methods to help the students learn. Then, he brings workers in areas besides engineering to his classes to show that there are many other math-related careers.
在 Active Learning Institute，Vinay 正試圖改變這種狀況。首先，與 60 到 100 名學(xué)生的普通班級相比，他教的學(xué)生人數(shù)較少——一個班級大約 20 人。其次，他采用探究式的方法幫助學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)。然后，他將工程以外領(lǐng)域的工人帶到他的課堂上，以表明還有許多其他與數(shù)學(xué)相關(guān)的職業(yè)。
 
Differences between American and Indian students
美國和印度學(xué)生之間的差異
 
Vinay currently teaches at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. He recently talked to VOA about the differences between mathematics education in the U.S. and India. He said Indian students generally have stronger foundations in math. They are better at memorizing and solving problems. But American students are better at showing the connection between math and its applications. And smaller class size in the U.S. means Vinay could give his students more one-on-one help.
Vinay 目前在密蘇里大學(xué)圣路易斯分校任教。路易斯在密蘇里州圣路易斯。他最近接受美國之音采訪時談到了美國和印度數(shù)學(xué)教育的差異。他說，印度學(xué)生的數(shù)學(xué)基礎(chǔ)普遍較強。他們更擅長記憶和解決問題。但美國學(xué)生更善于展示數(shù)學(xué)與其應(yīng)用之間的聯(lián)系。美國班級規(guī)模較小意味著 Vinay 可以為他的學(xué)生提供更多一對一的幫助。
 
Radia Farid recently took two classes with Vinay at Missouri-St. Louis. She said Vinay "used a lot of real-world applications, and those would help you visualize the concepts that we were learning. And examples would include animation and game development."
Radia Farid 最近在 Missouri-St. 和 Vinay 一起上了兩節(jié)課。路易斯。她說 Vinay“使用了很多現(xiàn)實世界的應(yīng)用程序，這些應(yīng)用程序?qū)椭蜗蠡覀冋趯W(xué)習(xí)的概念。示例包括動畫和游戲開發(fā)。”
 
What's next?
下一步是什么？
 
Long term, Vinay wants to help more people enjoy learning math. He plans to create more teaching materials that use visuals and show the applications of math like the popular Love of Physics talks. He also hopes to create software to help high school math teachers with preparing teaching materials.
從長遠(yuǎn)來看，Vinay 希望幫助更多人享受學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)學(xué)的樂趣。他計劃制作更多使用視覺效果的教材，并展示數(shù)學(xué)的應(yīng)用，例如廣受歡迎的Love of Physics講座。他還希望創(chuàng)建軟件來幫助高中數(shù)學(xué)教師準(zhǔn)備教材。
 
But, perhaps, his biggest goal is to bring the U.S. model of community colleges to India. Community colleges teach students skills for different careers, such as automotive repair or information technology.
但是，也許他最大的目標(biāo)是將美國模式的社區(qū)大學(xué)帶到印度。社區(qū)學(xué)院教授學(xué)生不同職業(yè)的技能，例如汽車維修或信息技術(shù)。
 
Students usually need two years of study or less to complete their training. And that will increase opportunities for people in India who cannot enter university programs.
學(xué)生通常需要兩年或更短的學(xué)習(xí)時間才能完成培訓(xùn)。這將為無法進(jìn)入大學(xué)課程的印度人增加機會。