San Diego Math Circle

Instructional DVD

Instructional DVD

 

Standard Deviants

Standard Deviants' interactive DVD's are targeted at "ordinary" high school students in "ordinary" high school subjects; they definitely are not targeted at gifted youth. These DVD's are not adequate as core instruction, but they are not intended to be; they are intended as companions to ordinary classes or as refreshers for exams. Owing to their engaging style, however, some of these DVD's can be useful to stimulate interest or provide enrichment for an audience their creators did not intend - gifted youth of younger (pre-high school) ages. Standard Deviants products are available in a variety of subjects. The DVD's can be used on a computer, but the have the advantage of being playable on a TV with attached DVD player, with program interactivity through the DVD player remote control. This makes it particularly accessible to a family context as may be appropriate for in-home enrichment for younger students.

Geometry I, II, or I&II Set - the geometry set is possibly the most effective of the Standard Deviants Mathematics offerings. It develops basic logical concepts, the concepts of proof, basic axioms and concepts of construction. Nothing more than basics is covered, but these are covered well.

Calculus I, II, or I&II Set - these DVD's may be useful as review for a basic Calculus mid-term, but they are better viewed as giving a taste of Calculus to ambitious younger students. There is not enough instruction here to be adequate in any sense, but there is enough exposure to Calculus concepts to pique the interest of some students.

Physics - The physics DVD's leave a lot to be desired. Not recommended.

Astronomy - A bit like the physics DVD's; they leave a lot to be desired, but have some value for exposure to basic concepts in Astronomy that students will encounter at some point.

Spanish I, II, III, IV or I-IV Set - Students are not going to learn Spanish from this set of DVD's. However, the full set of four does cover a wide range of material covered in high school Spanish courses. The key to learning any language is extensive exposure, and especially repetitive guidance on grammar and usage as well as in vocabulary. As an adjunct to a comprehensive program in Spanish, these DVD's can be useful supplementation.

MathTutorDVD.com

MathTutorDVD is just about as opposite from Standard Deviants as it gets. MathTutorDVD has essentially no production values - essentially no advantage is taken of any of the modern capabilities of the DVD medium. Each MathTutorDVD is simply a video recording of the instructor lecturing at a small dry-erase white board. The downside to this is that students may find it less than engaging because it is more like the drier parts of a school class than like an amusement. The upside to this, however, is that it is more like a school class than an amusement! The instructor really teaches the content of each course, and does so primarily through a mode of working out problems on the board. This is much more complete and pedagogically sound than the Standard Deviants. Topics covered by MathTutorDVD begin at a relatively low level, which makes them accessible to younger students.

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