2022年12月18日 VOA慢速英语：数学教授连接印度、美国的教学方法

 

Growing up in India, Vinay Kanth Rao loved math and knew that he wanted to teach math someday.
在印度长大的 Vinay Kanth Rao 热爱数学，并且知道他有朝一日想教数学。
 
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.
在印度瓦朗加尔国家理工学院获得数学硕士学位后，他进入美国科罗拉多大学攻读博士学位。当 Vinay 在科罗拉多州教数学课时，一个学生问了他一个问题，这个问题成为了他对这门学科的转折点。
 
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.
其中一名学生问我：“我为什么要学这个？” 现在，这是我大概 25 年来没有问过自己的问题……那时我才意识到，好吧——如果你正在学习一些东西，你应该能够使用它，好吗？或者至少，它应该是适用的。
 
Vinay also learned that in the U.S. he could study not only math but, importantly, ways to teach math.
Vinay 还了解到，在美国他不仅可以学习数学，更重要的是可以学习数学教学方法。
 
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，他转到南密西西比大学，在科学与数学教育中心 (CSME) 学习数学教育。他能够探索和开发改进数学教学的方法。
 
Vinay said: "That decision changed my entire life."
维奈说：“那个决定改变了我的一生。”
 
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.
维奈在他的教学中更多地使用视觉效果、电脑游戏和基于探究的教学。探究式是指学生在老师的帮助下共同回答问题，而不是只听老师的解释。
 
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·赫伦 (Sherry Herron) 是 Vinay在南密西西比州的导师。她在大学网站上的一篇文章中谈到 Vinay ：“我从未见过有如此积极性、创造力、智慧和职业道德的学生，并且能够生产出如此多、如此多样化的产品。”
 
Active learning in India
印度的主动学习
 
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 在瓦朗加尔成立了主动学习学院，将探究式教学法带给印度的师生。他筹集了 15,000 美元来支持它，并在 COVID-19 大流行减缓进展之前多次前往瓦朗加尔。
 
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.
维奈说，在印度，数学教育竞争激烈，学生们感觉自己就像在“高压锅”里。许多印度人认为成为工程师或医生是获得职业成功的唯一途径。这使他们在学习数学时感到额外的压力，并且常常使他们不喜欢这门学科。
 
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 正试图改变这种状况。首先，与 60 到 100 名学生的普通班级相比，他教的学生人数较少——一个班级大约 20 人。其次，他采用探究式的方法帮助学生学习。然后，他将工程以外领域的工人带到他的课堂上，以表明还有许多其他与数学相关的职业。
 
Differences between American and Indian students
美国和印度学生之间的差异
 
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 目前在密苏里大学圣路易斯分校任教。路易斯在密苏里州圣路易斯。他最近接受美国之音采访时谈到了美国和印度数学教育的差异。他说，印度学生的数学基础普遍较强。他们更擅长记忆和解决问题。但美国学生更善于展示数学与其应用之间的联系。美国班级规模较小意味着 Vinay 可以为他的学生提供更多一对一的帮助。
 
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 一起上了两节课。路易斯。她说 Vinay“使用了很多现实世界的应用程序，这些应用程序将帮助您形象化我们正在学习的概念。示例包括动画和游戏开发。”
 
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.
从长远来看，Vinay 希望帮助更多人享受学习数学的乐趣。他计划制作更多使用视觉效果的教材，并展示数学的应用，例如广受欢迎的Love of Physics讲座。他还希望创建软件来帮助高中数学教师准备教材。
 
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，也许他最大的目标是将美国模式的社区大学带到印度。社区学院教授学生不同职业的技能，例如汽车维修或信息技术。
 
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.
学生通常需要两年或更短的学习时间才能完成培训。这将为无法进入大学课程的印度人增加机会。