mathematics

Lola J. May

Lola J. May is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lola J. May rather than just read about it. In short: Lola J. May (October 29, 1923 – March 13, 2007) was a mathematics educator, consultant, author, producer of audio-visual materials, an early proponent of the new math educational process, and a household name among mathematics.

Key takeaways

Lola J. May belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lola J. May to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lola J. May from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lola J. May (October 29, 1923 – March 13, 2007) was a mathematics educator, consultant, author, producer of audio-visual materials, an early proponent of the new math educational process, and a household name among mathematics.

Life Her father was a salesman and her mother was a homemaker. Her father taught her mathematics every night using a movable blackboard and a collection of coins. She found her early schooling boring and too strict, and she did not initially consider becoming a teacher. A native of Kenosha, Wisconsin and a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1945, where she received her B.S. in mathematics and science. After teaching high school for three years, she studied and achieved her master's degree in mathematics at Northwestern University in 1950 and her doctorate in mathematics education from there in 1964. She taught mathematics at New Trier Township High School in the Chicago area until 1960, and was a mathematics consultant at the Winnetka, Illinois public schools until 1998. Her summers were often spent teaching at the university level, but she taught mathematics to all grades over the course of her career. She promised herself to make her students laugh and ask questions. She did not want her students to be bored by or scared of mathematics. She succeeded; her students cheered when they figured out the answers to math problems and lamented when class time with Dr. May was over. May explained, "The big thing I have going for me is my enthusiasm. There are people who are brighter than I am. There are people who may be better teachers-although I'm pretty good at teaching-and there are certainly people who are better writers. But I have enthusiasm." This enthusiasm was not unnoticed; teachers in the same hallway as her described how loud she was. May died on March 13, 2007, in Evanston, Illinois, at the age of 83.

Contributions Her authored works include her autobiography "Lola May Who?", the book "Teaching Mathematics in the Elementary School", a number of Harcourt Brace textbooks, monthly articles for a regular column in the Teaching K-8 magazine, and a series of articles for the Chicago Tribune Magazine. May created videotapes, film strips, audiocassettes, and students' audiovisual programs for teaching mathematics. She led 20 shows about "new math" for parents and teachers on NCB TV from 1962 to 1964. She also designed a cartoon series about new math for an adult audience, called Space Age Math for Stone Age Parents. She frequently was a speaker at the annual California Math Conference and Northwest Math Conference during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. May also spoke at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) conferences. She gave talks in all 50 states and around the world.

Recognition Her awards include the Northwestern Alumni Merit Award in 1999, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1995, and the Educator of the Year Award from the Winnetka Chamber of Commerce.

Notes

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lola J. May

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lola J. May claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lola J. May before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lola J. May ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lola J. May

In research: Lola J. May appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lola J. May in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lola J. May is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1923 births, 2007 deaths, 20th-century American educators, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lola J. May outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lola J. May in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lola J. May means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lola J. May out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lola J. May in simple terms?

Why does Lola J. May matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lola J. May?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lola J. May.