About Logical Reasoning
Welcome! We're excited that you are interested in teaching Logical Reasoning at BEAM Discovery.
Why Logical Reasoning?
How do we help students use deductive reasoning to understand mathematics? Answering this question is the goal of the Logical Reasoning classes.
Our logic classes help students develop skills in deductive reasoning, case analysis, working methodically, and proof by contradiction. Additionally, students learn to carefully read mathematical writing to understand new kinds of math problems, all key skills for their future success in mathematics.
Different Classes
Students will choose between three or four Logical Reasoning courses, each based on a different type of logic puzzle as a "hook" for the students. In each course, students begin by developing their skills on the chosen logic puzzle, and then they transition to doing math questions that use those same skills. By drawing explicit connections between the two types of work, we hope that students will develop new ways of thinking about the situations they encounter.
BEAM Discovery is a flexible program, so there is a great deal of room for improvisation and creativity in the logic classes. We hope that you will help us develop these courses and to grow them out over time.
Detailed Overview
The Logical Reasoning course begins by solving classic logic puzzles which provide the core skills of the class: deductive reasoning, case analysis, working methodically, and careful reading. We also want to lay the groundwork for proof by contradiction: the idea that you can try a case and go until you see a contradiction; then you can return and rule out that case.
As students gain these skills on logic puzzles, they will transition to solving math problems using those same skills. By explicitly drawing out the relationship between the puzzles and the problems, we hope that students will see how clear logical reasoning plays a deep role in mathematics.
Although we've developed a basic outline for sample classes, we don't have detailed lesson plans or handouts for students. You will have the flexibility (and responsibility) for developing your day-to-day lesson plans, selecting problems, and creating handouts. We just provide an outline, so that all students get the core skills. Indeed, if you have an idea for doing things differently, please suggest it!
Prepackaged classes
Although the courses all end up in a similar place, there will be several flavors of the course, each based around different puzzles.
We have prepackaged courses available on various different puzzle types, which have been taught at BEAM Discovery before successfully. These courses are:
Truth, Lies, and Logic (has a focus on truthtellers and liars aka knights and knaves puzzles)
Math for Pirates (has a focus on logic riddles, particularly those using induction)
Cryptarithms and other Arithmetic Puzzles (has a focus on arithmetic puzzles)
Elementary, My Dear! (has a focus on matching riddles aka Einstein puzzles aka griddlers)
You are also welcome to propose developing your own curriculum and teaching from that (for example, we’ve had folks successfully teach logical reasoning through KenKen puzzles before and would love to have that again!).
Ready to Apply?
To read more about our hiring process and submit the initial application, read this website:
Once we have received your application, our hiring committee will review it and then get back to you if we feel you're a good fit.
If you’re applying to create your own curriculum
If you’re applying to create your own curriculum rather than teach a pre-packaged course, the second step in the process will be to create a course description about how you would teach your course. For the Logical Reasoning course, we will ask you to include:
A short description of how you would teach a particular logic puzzle. Each of the links above contains a puzzle you should use in your proposal. If you are proposing something else, please include a specific puzzle and then discuss how you would go over it within the course.
A short description of how you would teach a particular math problem. You may use the math problem provided in the descriptions or choose your own. How would you draw connections between solving this problem and solving the logic puzzle you chose?
