I’m hard at work on my Applied Linear Algebra Fundamentals textbook project and my Jeff Anderson YouTube channel. In this post, I share some fun updates from the last two months of effort.
Continue readingApplied Linear Algebra Fundamentals
JAM Project Updates 1/31/2024
I am hard at work getting read for my next YouTube video release. In this post, I share my progress updates for January 2024 and some targets I have for the coming month. This includes a sneak peak (in draft form) of my next YouTube video.
Continue readingJAM Project Updates 1/12/2024
In this post, I share updates on my professional projects from October, November, and December 2023. In 2024, I want to get better at sharing regular reports on my progress on the projects that matter most to me. One of my Patreon subscribers recommended that I not only publish my updates on that platform, but I also find other ways to publish. Thanks to that person for the suggestion and cheers to the process of developing this system.
Continue readingI invite you to support my work
In this post, I invite you to support my work through either of the following channels:
- My Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/jeffandersonmath
- My Authorship PayPal account: https://paypal.me/jeffandersonmath
It has taken me many years of thinking, planning, and action to get to the point where I’m ready to ask for and receive support from my community for my content creation project. Here we explore the context of this invitation and some of my policies for this work.
Continue readingI am ready to accept help for my content creation projects
In this post, I explain more about my recent decision to accept support for my content creation projects. This includes work on my my linear algebra textbook, my YouTube channel, my MATLAB textbook, and on two nonfiction books that I’m working on to help transform college STEM classes: one on strategic deep learning and the other on ungrading in College STEM classes.
Continue readingMy content creation policies with no required paywalls
In this blog post, I explain more about my content creation policies. I approach my work as an author and content creator differently than many other people I see doing this type of work. Specifically, I choose to eschew traditional publishing contracts in favor of creating grass-roots community support for my projects. For my fans, paid subscribers, and larger community, I want to share more details about my approach so that you can better understand the choices I make.
My general policies for authorship and content creation can be stated as follows:
- I provide 100% of the core content I create to the world with no required paywall.
- I produce high-quality resources that empower the learners I serve to build a life they love, to enjoy financial security, and to become more engaged citizens in our democracy.
- I eschew the pursuit of luxury, obscene wealth, and elite prowess. Instead, I focus on serving my community in the the bottom 99.99% of the income distribution to create a more equitable and just society.
- Whenever possible, I work hard in smart ways to build low-cost alternatives that center local, grass-roots empowerment.
- I cultivate a blue collar work ethic while leveraging white collar strategies. I do this to empower myself and others to be part of the fight against income inequality and systemic oppression while fighting for democratic governance and policies that enable self-determination.
I make these commitments as a fundamental part of my professional life. In this post, I articulate more about these policies and also provide some reasons why I maintain this approach in my career.
Continue readingALAF Update: Types of Math Models (v20230321)
In this post, I share my current work on a new section that will be part of my ALAF textbook project. This section is titled “Types of Math Models.” The goal of this work is to give a detailed overview of how math models are used in the world so that students can start to understand the larger contexts for the math they study in school. In this work I highlight five different categories of mathematical models including:
- Models to understand our physical world
- Models to conduct unethical or impractical experiments
- Models to inform public policy
- Models to make money
- Models to save money
Under each category of model, I provide some real-world historical examples so that students can ground their intuition in concrete examples that show up in their world. I’m still early in the drafting process but I’m excited to share this work. I can’t wait to have students discover the frequency with which linear algebra shows up in so many of the models I highlight in this section.
Jeff Anderson’s Applied Linear Algebra Fundamentals (ALAF) Textbook Project
In this post, I describe my goals for my Applied Linear Algebra Fundamentals (ALAF) textbook. I started work on this textbook in 2013 and continue to build, refine, and improve my writing on a daily basis. I present the larger vision for this work and also provide links to my current progress on this book.
Continue readingALAF Update: Draft Table of Contents
Today I share a draft table of contents for the Applied Linear Algebra Fundamentals textbook. I’ve been working on this for over a decade. If I’m able to write the book I believe the future generations of linear algebra students deserve, I guess this work will be over 1000 pages. In this textbook, I want to invite students to engage in real-world modeling activities directly related to their academic and career interests. I also want to give learners the opportunity along with lots of support to learn how to code linear algebraic operations. I want to guide readers in learning how to use the code they write to make meaningful progress on the modeling problems they study.
One fun feature of the work I’m creating is that I do NOT want to constrain students to simply solving abstract problems. Instead, I want to create a large library of applied linear algebra laboratory experiences that invite students to observe, measure, and play with real-world systems as a fundamental part of how they learn linear algebra. One difficulty that arises when imaging this model is that in order for learners to do deep modeling using linear algebra, they will need access to a companion textbook and learning resources that delivers content to support their modeling activities. I have never seen a textbook author attempt to do anything like what I believe our students deserve. This project is designed to fill in the gaps and make modeling possible with no required paywall for students. I want to crowd fund this textbook so that we can offer this work to the community with no required paywall.
Deep in my heart, I believe we should offer introductory linear algebra as a four-quarter (three semester) class sequence with an optional fifth quarter for students who want to dive deeper. Below are some resources that speak more about this vision:
- Let’s Re-Imagine Undergraduate Math Education
- Some research behind my push to re-imagine college math education
- More Linear Algebra Please
- More Linear Algebra!
In this post I share my current vision for the different sections of this book. You can find that draft in the .pdf linked below. In the coming weeks, month, and years, I will be releasing updated, revised and edited sections of this book. Enjoy!
Jeff Anderson 