| Fractal Geometry |
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| An example of the beauty of mathematics... |
Welcome to our Website - from Herb, Rick and Judy NEWS!
2) A new testimonial to Herb Gross has been added
here and to our testimonial page. It is from Professor Doug Clements, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Learning and Instruction,
University of Buffalo. (We are so proud to be colleagues of Herb.)
Click to read Professor Clement's testimonial
About This WebsiteHi!
My name is Judy Bender, a life-time mathematician and math teacher. I had been writing a book that I felt presented
the teaching of mathematics in a new light. I discussed my objective with Professor Roger Howe, the Mathematics Department
Chairperson at Yale University. He suggested that I communicate with Herb Gross who had many novel ideas for teaching
mathematics. At the time, Herb and Rick Medeiros (a retired elementary school teacher who had been a participant in
a workshop that Herb conducted) were developing a power point version of Herb’s algebra course. After just one
meeting with Herb and Rick, I realized that my personal goals had a much better chance of coming to fruition if I put my own
manuscript on a back burner and looked for a vehicle that would present their work to as large an audience as possible.
With this goal in mind I asked Herb and Rick if they were willing to have the three of us work as a team and adapt Herb’s
many ideas to a website that I would develop that was dedicated to sharing Herb’s ideas with anyone who had access to
the Internet. When this website is completed it will contain Professor Gross’ arithmetic and basic algebra courses,
as well as other ideas that he would like to share with the viewers.
As
is noted on every page of this website, Herb, Rick and I want to express our gratitude to The Gabriella and Paul Rosenbaum
Foundation and, in particular, Madge Goldman, its president. Without Madge’s commitment to Herb’s ideas,
the work of translating lectures and written material into slide shows (which has already taken years to develop and is still
only partially complete) might never have taken place.
Our
GoalsIt is with great pride and humility that we present this website
as an innovative and intuitive approach to fundamental mathematics that is encapsulated in a series of slide presentations.
The concepts behind these presentations spring from the genius that is Professor Herb Gross who has been working on these
ideas for more than 50 years. He has been aided in developing his course work into self-paced, enjoyable, mathematically
sound, and highly intuitive slide-show presentations by the creative work of Richard Medeiros. Our goals are to
present the material FREE on the website and for use in workshops around the country. We also hope to offer a supplementary
text. Much of this work is a ‘labor of love’ from us to you in the hope that you will find this material
to be a new way to look at mathematics, how and why it operates the way it does especially in the real world. We want
to make this work available so that all who want to learn in a less stressful, self-paced way regardless of educational status,
age, gender, race ethnicity or current knowledge of mathematics can begin to experience the joy of mathematics the way we
do. We want to remove the magic and replace it with a new way to learn and enjoy math that does not depend on nor interfere
with a current curriculum, textbook, or favorite pedagogical method. For those in the United States, we have made every
effort to ensure that our material covers National Mathematics Standards, regardless of state.
It is our hope that we can finish slide shows for the arithmetic and algebra courses as well as to present many more
of Herb’s views. As this is being written, we are currently preparing to present a workshop on fractions to the
third through fifth grade teachers from the Easton/Redding school district in Connecticut; and we hope to be able to present
workshops to any and all school districts, colleges, or interested organizations. We have much more material on the
‘drawing board’ as well and we hope that when you read through the material on this site and download some slideshows
that you will be motivated to learn more.
One more note about the website: Please read the testimonials
and guest-book entries that reinforce our philosophy that the insights we provide are not only in the mathematical realm,
but extend to many other areas of human endeavor.
About
Professor Gross
For those of you who have met Herb Gross, he needs no further introduction.
For those of you who have not met him, presented below are a few of the highlights in his professional life. They do not even
begin to describe the person but do give some sense of his accomplishments.
Herb Gross has over 50 years of teaching experience in diverse settings ranging from Central Prison's Death Row in Raleigh,
North Carolina to MIT's Center for Advanced Engineering Study where he produced the critically acclaimed video course “Calculus
Revisited". He has a long list of achievements, especially in the area of community college mathematics.
Among these achievements are:
• From 1958 to 1968 he served as the founding Head of the Mathematics Department
at Corning (NY) Community College. He became a pioneer in distance learning in 1959 when he taught a calculus course
for high school students via Corning's Educational Television Network.
• In 1967 he became the founding president
of the New York State Mathematics Association of Two Year Colleges; and in 1974 he became the founding president of the American
Mathematics Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC).
• From 1968 to 1973 he served as the Senior Lecturer
at the M. I. T. Center for Advanced Engineering Study, during which time he developed the “Calculus Revisited”
program, consisting of a series of 83 video taped lectures and 17 volumes of study guides. To date, the program has
been used by over 50,000 scientists, engineers and technicians on six continents to learn or to review the essentials of calculus.
• In 1973 he became the Founding Chairperson of the Mathematics Department at Bunker Hill Community College in
Boston, Massachusetts, where he served until his retirement in May of 2003.
• In 1986 he was named by the
American Association of Community College Trustees as the nation's Outstanding Community College Instructor.
• In 1988 he served as a special consultant to the Chancellor of the Minnesota Community College System, playing a
role in helping the state establish a Center for Excellence in Teaching.
• Since his retirement from Bunker
Hill Community College in 2003, he has been working diligently on developing his many works into a PowerPoint slide show format;
while at the same time continuing to give workshops and other presentations.
 
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