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There is a reason why most people hate math. IMAO the current system of teaching math is ancient and above all deprecated. We should not punish our kids with i

There is a reason why most people hate math. IMAO the current system of teaching math is ancient and above all deprecated. We should not punish our kids with it. I mean, what's the point of drilling stupid sums if you'll hardly ever need it in your life? I think it is totally stupid and irresponsible if anyone does calculations without a calculator for almost any application, not excluding: store checkout, health care, aviation, etc.. The current educational methods are way pre-computer era, it desperately needs an upgrade. So why not start teaching kids concepts and let them use the technologies we create to solve problems that our minds are not wired for? Ever seen a teacher without a cheat sheet checking the answers? Guess why? Because their own calculations are too slow and above all not to be trusted! And should I not use a debugger because theoretically we can write proper code without it? Come on.. Please stop teaching our kids deprecated workflows. Teach them the best practice, the best way we know and can do now, because: "As the twig is bent the tree is inclined".

merraksh 9y ago
I mean, what's the point of drilling stupid sums if you'll hardly ever need it in your life? "Hardly ever"? So when checking the restaurant bill, the change at the grocery shop, the tax return, a bank investment proposal, the costs of building/renovating a house, the time left for a mortgage, do you always use a calculator?
- maximexx 9y ago
  If I need to be sure? Yes!
  - rmah 9y ago
    Haha, I do not trust machines -- I check the calculator by doing the math by hand.
dorchadas 9y ago
You want us to teach them best practice? Then we need to teach them maths, without relying on calculators. I teach secondary maths (specifically Algebra II), and they can't understand what I'm supposed to be teaching them because they have no clue how numbers work. Why don't they know this, if they're 15/16? Because they were given calculators at too young of an age and know "just push the button". What you're arguing is for a complete removal of teaching math, period. Also, why would you want to pull out a calculator every time when it's often quicker to do some mental calculations in your head? For instance, I've seen my students multiply by two in the calculator. Then be amazed when I can just say it. Over-reliance on the calculators is already a huge issue, and we don't need to make it worse.
- maximexx 9y ago
  > What you're arguing is for a complete removal of teaching math, period. No. I suggest focussing on explaining concepts, not drilling sums. And explain them why in ancient times the teacher used to use a cheat sheet because drilling didn't work because science found out our minds are not wired for that. Besides, from over 7 billion people on Earth, how many need Algebra 2? Please try to be honest and give us here an estimate teacher. In your life Math is important apparently, but in most lives it's not. Teach it to those interested please and don't push it through the throat of those not interested.
  - ColinWright 9y ago
    > I suggest focussing on explaining concepts, not drilling sums. The research I've seen suggests that having a bunch of stuff at your finger tips then makes it easier to have the concepts crystallise. Trying to start with just the concepts doesn't work. So what's needed is both, significant practice to help embed the simple underlying facts, with extensive exploration of the links between the facts to help the concepts emerge, be identified, and then distilled. To me, it seems that almost everyone goes full extreme: "Must do this", "Must do that", whereas, as in game theory, it seems obvious that a mixed strategy is likely the best option.
sethammons 9y ago
The idea is to give them "number sense." Kids trained on calculators don't bat an eye at 12+6=72. "The calculator said so." "What do you mean I pressed the wrong button?"

merraksh 9y ago

I mean, what's the point of drilling stupid sums if you'll hardly ever need it in your life? "Hardly ever"? So when checking the restaurant bill, the change at the grocery shop, the tax return, a bank investment proposal, the costs of building/renovating a house, the time left for a mortgage, do you always use a calculator?

maximexx 9y ago
If I need to be sure? Yes!
- rmah 9y ago
  Haha, I do not trust machines -- I check the calculator by doing the math by hand.

dorchadas 9y ago

You want us to teach them best practice? Then we need to teach them maths, without relying on calculators. I teach secondary maths (specifically Algebra II), and they can't understand what I'm supposed to be teaching them because they have no clue how numbers work. Why don't they know this, if they're 15/16? Because they were given calculators at too young of an age and know "just push the button". What you're arguing is for a complete removal of teaching math, period. Also, why would you want to pull out a calculator every time when it's often quicker to do some mental calculations in your head? For instance, I've seen my students multiply by two in the calculator. Then be amazed when I can just say it. Over-reliance on the calculators is already a huge issue, and we don't need to make it worse.

maximexx 9y ago
> What you're arguing is for a complete removal of teaching math, period. No. I suggest focussing on explaining concepts, not drilling sums. And explain them why in ancient times the teacher used to use a cheat sheet because drilling didn't work because science found out our minds are not wired for that. Besides, from over 7 billion people on Earth, how many need Algebra 2? Please try to be honest and give us here an estimate teacher. In your life Math is important apparently, but in most lives it's not. Teach it to those interested please and don't push it through the throat of those not interested.
- ColinWright 9y ago
  > I suggest focussing on explaining concepts, not drilling sums. The research I've seen suggests that having a bunch of stuff at your finger tips then makes it easier to have the concepts crystallise. Trying to start with just the concepts doesn't work. So what's needed is both, significant practice to help embed the simple underlying facts, with extensive exploration of the links between the facts to help the concepts emerge, be identified, and then distilled. To me, it seems that almost everyone goes full extreme: "Must do this", "Must do that", whereas, as in game theory, it seems obvious that a mixed strategy is likely the best option.

sethammons 9y ago

The idea is to give them "number sense." Kids trained on calculators don't bat an eye at 12+6=72. "The calculator said so." "What do you mean I pressed the wrong button?"