Help talk:Style
From Thinkmath
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This page is devoted to an ongoing discussion among TMIE contributors -- anyone checking, editing, and creating content -- concerning all aspects of style: tone, nature and use of illustrations, depth of articles, avoidance (or explanation) of jargon, and whatever else may come up as we work.Anything you enter is likely to be edited mercilessly, but entering something is an enormous contribution even if subsequent edits change it entirely.
Please add to this discussion (by clicking the [+] at the top of the page). It's useful (but not required) if you also "sign your name" to your comments by typing ~~~~ (exactly four tilde characters) at the end.
And our museum contains the original axe that George Washington used to cut down that fabled cherry tree. This is not a replica, but the very axe he used throughout his life. We have maintained it carefully. In 1938, a flood in this very room caused the head to rust badly, and so it was replaced. By 1954, the wooden handle had decayed so much that it was replaced.Starting a page gets the ball rolling, and encourages others to contribute. Also, it is vastly easier (for me, at least!) to edit an article than to start one.
Defining a style for TMIE
We've tested some things about style, but a great deal is unknown, and we'll be inventing it as we go along. I think we'll do our best if we try to make style guidelines explicit, but we'll see how hard that is. I encourage people to look at the "Five pillars" that summarize Wikipedia's policy and guidelines. The material there is massive, and we are not Wikipedia, but it is interesting to see and rummage about inside. Especially important, please see the "perfection is not required" and "be bold" articles mentioned in the last "pillar."
We can't possibly match the thought and detail put into Wikipedia; we're just not as large a project. But we can learn from it. In particular, I'd like to propose that we abide by two of the Wikipedia policies. (And, if you disagree, please press [+] and let us all know!)
- Verifiability: Definitions and similar mathematical content need not always be cited (though citations can sometimes be a favor to the reader). Claims about education (e.g., how students learn, best practice, approaches in some curriculum or country, psychological or mathematics education research, philosophy or epistemology, etc.) should be cited.
- Neutral point of view (NPOV): Mathematical content (definitions, ideas, and so on) is rarely a subject of controversy. But whether, when, and how that content should be taught is often controversial. We do want people to contribute ideas on education freely, but also to recognize that competing theories and practices exist because experience and research results do not resolve all issues totally. We also recognize that teachers' experience is a kind of research result, and encourage ideas based on experience, but authors must clearly identify the source (e.g., "In my classroom, I have ...").
I'd also like to propose a style policy of our own, one that will probably take much debugging to refine and clarify:
- Articles should be understandable by smart adults with no background in psychology, education, or mathematics and with no knowledge of the special formats of whatever curriculum you might be describing. So, jargon from those fields should be avoided wherever possible, or explained (via a link).
- Articles should make liberal use of illustrations and graphics wherever they would help.
Paul 17:01, 26 February 2008 (EST)
Illustrations and graphics
Any (legal!) source is fine: scanned student work; photographs; graphics you create with Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, MatLab, Mathematica, Maple, Logo, Geometer's Sketchpad or Cabri, or any other mathematics or graphics program you like; and so on. See Help:Graphics for information about how to upload graphics files and insert graphics into articles. Paul 15:40, 25 February 2008 (EST)
Project: Glossary
One thing that needs attention is the Glossary. If you click glossary, you will see a zillion terms needing definitions. Join the glossary project group by adding your name to Category_talk:Glossary. (That doesn't "do" anything except let the rest of us know you're interested in this project.) Paul 16:21, 25 February 2008 (EST)
