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

 

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，并且知道他有朝一日想教數(shù)學。
 
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院獲得數(shù)學碩士學位后，他進入美國科羅拉多大學攻讀博士學位。當 Vinay 在科羅拉多州教數(shù)學課時，一個學生問了他一個問題，這個問題成為了他對這門學科的轉折點。
 
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.
其中一名學生問我：“我為什么要學這個？” 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——如果你正在學習一些東西，你應該能夠使用它，好嗎？或者至少，它應該是適用的。
 
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習數(shù)學，更重要的是可以學習數(shù)學教學方法。
 
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，他轉到南密西西比大學，在科學與數(shù)學教育中心 (CSME) 學習數(shù)學教育。他能夠探索和開發(fā)改進數(shù)學教學的方法。
 
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.
維奈在他的教學中更多地使用視覺效果、電腦游戲和基于探究的教學。探究式是指學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師。她在大學網(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
印度的主動學習
 
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習學院，將探究式教學法帶給印度的師生。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)學教育競爭激烈，學生們感覺自己就像在“高壓鍋”里。許多印度人認為成為工程師或醫(yī)生是獲得職業(yè)成功的唯一途徑。這使他們在學習數(shù)學時感到額外的壓力，并且常常使他們不喜歡這門學科。
 
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 名學生的普通班級相比，他教的學生人數(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生學習。然后，他將工程以外領域的工人帶到他的課堂上，以表明還有許多其他與數(shù)學相關的職業(yè)。
 
Differences between American and Indian students
美國和印度學生之間的差異
 
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)學教育的差異。他說，印度學生的數(shù)學基礎普遍較強。他們更擅長記憶和解決問題。但美國學生更善于展示數(shù)學與其應用之間的聯(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)實世界的應用程序，這些應用程序將幫助您形象化我們正在學習的概念。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.
從長遠來看，Vinay 希望幫助更多人享受學習數(shù)學的樂趣。他計劃制作更多使用視覺效果的教材，并展示數(shù)學的應用，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)學教師準備教材。
 
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，也許他最大的目標是將美國模式的社區(qū)大學帶到印度。社區(qū)學院教授學生不同職業(yè)的技能，例如汽車維修或信息技術。
 
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.
學生通常需要兩年或更短的學習時間才能完成培訓。這將為無法進入大學課程的印度人增加機會。