The Kaplans’ Math Circle Method

Authors

Amanda SerenevyFollow

Biographical Sketch

Amanda Serenevy worked with Bob and Ellen Kaplan as a Math Circle leader in their program in Boston for three semesters in 2005 and 2006. She later organized an annual week-long Math Circle Institute at Notre Dame where the Kaplans were the lead presenters from 2008 through 2016. Since 2006, she has been the Executive Director of Riverbend Community Math Center, a non-profit organization based in South Bend, Indiana.

Abstract

This essay explores what is meant by "The Socratic Method" in classical and modern times and examines the extent to which the Kaplans employed it in their Math Circles. We offer an imagined dialogue between the Kaplans and their students on the same mathematical subject explored by Socrates and the slave boy in Plato's dialogue \emph{Meno} to illustrate how the Kaplans might have handled that topic

Recommended Citation

Serenevy, Amanda (2025) "The Kaplans’ Math Circle Method," Journal of Math Circles: Vol. 4: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/mathcirclesjournal/vol4/iss2/6