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I doubt the calculators were the problem. People going through the "AP class" route with calculators finish up all of the math (and more!) that gets covered in
by rtpg 5y ago
I doubt the calculators were the problem. People going through the "AP class" route with calculators finish up all of the math (and more!) that gets covered in a french high school math class (from experience of moving to France in High School and learning zilch for 3 years).
Totally on point about the "analyticial and quantitative lenses". Multiple-choice questions and lack of "real" questions really hobble a lot of math classes.
I was lucky in middle school in particular to have classes that used textbooks with a much more indepth look at why we would do X/Y/Z than the average book (along with a system where you would work through exercises in groups of 3 or 4, so better people could help out people who were struggling more). But I had to do a hell of a lot more "work showing" in France.
- dubcanada 5y ago> Why do you doubt calculators were the problem? The way I see it, learning to do basic math in your head is just as important if not more important then learning a procedure via a calculator. A calculator doesn't teach you anything, it just teaches you how to use a calculator.
- colinmhayes 5y agoDoing math in your head doesn't really teach you anything either though. Everyone has a calculator within hands reach these days. I don't think practicing mental math ever helped me understand principles, it just helped me memorize and learn tricks that are only helpful with doing mental arithmetic.
- alistairSH 5y agoCalculators in calculus probably aren't a problem. But in the US, calculators are used at almost all grade levels. My son's school allowed them while he was in elementary school, while still learning basic algebra. As for math education in general (in the US), it's pretty terrible. The lack of practical applications of "advanced" maths is a big problem. Basic calculus didn't "click" for me until I started taking economics courses in college.
- skulk 5y ago> The lack of practical applications of "advanced" maths is a big problem. I vividly remember self-studying calculus because I absolutely wanted to know how to find the area under a polynomial curve. I knew how to find areas of normal geometric shapes, but finding the area under the curve seemed like black magic that I _had_ to learn. If schools could somehow give this to students, there would be no need for "practical applications".