Summer of Math Exposition

I really liked the lighter tone of your writing. It makes reading more engaging. The length is also well balanced, as of the pace of the lesson. Good job !

For an article that geared towards high schoolers struggling with algebra, this article talks a lot about higher maths, briefly mentioning things like linear algebra, groups, quaternions, and more will only work to confuse someone who hasn’t already been introduced to them. Also, when talking about commutativity, an example of rotations is given and you show how the basic algebra we learn isn’t applicable to it, this could be potentially taken as a reason algebra isn’t important to learn. Overall, I feel like this article doesn’t have a strong target audience, as it switches between catering to beginners to algebra and people who have spent lots of time in math.

Having read the article on mobile, I’m starting to notice that the addition sign seems to disappear in the LaTeX strips within the text; I’m not sure if there’s anything that can be done on your end, but it would make the article confusing if I had not seen it happen before. So, for example, the statement “$x + x + x = 3x$” appears as “$xxx = 3x$” 😅

I loved the resources provided (video link), very useful to introduce the audience to the world of educational content.

Here’s my ranking via the official criteria:

Motivation: 6/9, higher average. I think this article is extremely motivating and useful, especially for people who struggle with the subject — empathising with the students is a definite win here, which shows that you understand how they feel and feeling seen is vital here. Clarity: 5.5/9, high average. Not much was introduced in terms of jargon, but the operations that were had examples provided. Novelty: 4.5/9, low average. This is a point that many people try to get across, so the idea itself is not novel. However, this was a well-presented piece, so I do like it. Memorability: 6/9, higher average. I love the open resources and the enthusiastic presentation of the article.

0.4 will unfortunately be deducted for the for the formatting in LaTeX.

So we have a total of 5.1 for the score (: thank you for the submission!

I always appreciate any attempt to help students understand why they’re learning a thing rather than just telling them that they have to learn that thing. Just one thing I noticed that might trip some people up: when you said, “(remember the quaternions that don’t have commutativity).” That’s the first, and only, time you mention quaternions. Previously you had only referred to 3D rotations. I’d guess that most high school students, or other people struggling with why they should learn algebra, may not have heard of quaternions and/or might not be aware of their connection to 3D rotation.

Love the enthusiasm!

However in terms of learning, it is quite light. I like the example of rotating the dice as an example of a system that’s not commutive.

Images would go a long way. Showing exactly how the dice would differ from the two rotations would be an easy addition that goes a long way.