“That Student Is Taught the Best Who Is Told the Least”

Department of Mathematical Sciences

University of Texas at El Paso

R.L. Moore (1882-1974) was one of the most accomplished American mathematicians of the last century. He made important contributions to topology, he was President of the American Mathematical Society, and last not least he taught mathematics courses for nearly 65 years, most of those years (1920-1969) at the University of Texas at Austin. He had over 50 Ph.D. students, many of whom became distinguished mathematicians themselves, including three who were elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

He initiated a student-centered active-learning approach to studying mathematics, which has become known as the “Moore method”. Each student in his class developed his own proofs and theorems, and then presented his results in class. Only the framework was set by Moore. He created a competitive classroom atmosphere by usually calling on the weakest students first. The success of his “teaching” style was deeply grounded in Moore’s ability to gauge the individual students’ abilities, and his careful judgment of how much help (if any) each student needed in a particular situation.

Over the years, many students who have been exposed to the “Moore method,” have become “Moore teachers” themselves. (The presenter is a 3rd generation Moore student.) While they often feel it necessary to modify Moore’s example to fit their own teaching situation, their students, and their own personality, they strive to maintain the spirit of Moore’s ideas: Very little teaching to the students, students taking center stage by presenting material in a classroom setting, and significant discovery learning components.

My presentation will begin with a short biographical sketch of R.L. Moore, followed by an explanation of his method. Afterwards I will describe my experience with teaching “Moore-style” courses in undergraduate and graduate mathematics classes at UTEP during the recent years. Last not least, I hope to engage the audience into a lively discussion of the pros and cons of the method.