A Core Math Course Should Not Tour the Professor’s Interests

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Differential equations. It’s one of the worst-taught math courses. It typically starts off fine: you do linear differential equations, then second order equations with characteristic polynomials. But then, suddenly…

The instructor just goes to their favorite research area. So depending on who teaches the course, students get a totally different idea of what the subject even is. A core math course should not feel like a random tour of the professor’s interests.

Further reading: The funny thing about Differential Equations is that pretty much everyone who teaches it has a different conception of what it covers. .

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