At her blog, Dr. Shellie wonders whether she should go through long derivations while teaching a graduate-level class this semester. She has been trying to find a balance between emphasizing concepts and rigorous derivations, especially as students tend to get lost following all the algebra. "I am also trying to encourage student thinking and participation during class. This tends to tilt things toward the hand-wavy side, as more student participation = fewer lines of algebra on the chalkboard," she adds.