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In 5th or 6th grade in Belgium (circa 1977) they had a self-paced “programmed math” book where on each page they introduce concepts, with a few questions and
by d4rkp4ttern 5y ago
In 5th or 6th grade in Belgium (circa 1977) they had a self-paced “programmed math” book where on each page they introduce concepts, with a few questions and you try to answer them, with answers on the next page. If you answered correctly you could move forward, else review. It was absolutely gripping for me and I advanced way ahead of the rest of my class, through concepts like sets, vectors, etc, which in hindsight seems quite advanced compared to what’s in “Common Core US” math today in those grades.
I have been searching for those books online but couldn’t find them, or maybe I am not searching for the right keywords.
If anyone knows the books I am referring to, I would be willing to pay premium :)
- d4rkp4ttern 5y agoContinuing on the theme of math books, it is a really sad state of affairs in US schools these days: there is not even a single textbook that is followed. I am in one of the top public school districts and when I see my son’s class materials, they are a jumble of materials pulled from the internet.
- ivansavz 5y agoIf you end-up finding one of these books, please let me know the title/author. It sounds like a really interesting approach... almost like a choose your own adventure.
- jonsen 5y agoWP is rather informative about the approach: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmed_learning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmed_learning
- d4rkp4ttern 5y agoIndeed, this was exactly the kind of book we had. Nice to see this background, thanks for sharing.
- d4rkp4ttern 5y agoWill do! These books were introduced as an experimental format under “nouveau mathemathique”, probably were discontinued.
- elatur 5y agoYou can google for the key terms: "programmed instruction" and "programmed learning". These were popular, I loved them too. I remember some had a tear-out flap so you could hide the answer while you're reading the text! The Little Schemer uses programmed instruction.
- vmilner 5y agoPossibly "TutorTexts" https://gamebooks.org/Series/457/Show https://gamebooks.org/Series/457/Show I had Lasker's chess one as a school prize - it was awesome.
- d4rkp4ttern 5y agoInteresting will look this up. The book we had in Belgium was in French, it had a horizontal layout, blue cover, page looked minimal, almost typewritten.
- vmilner 5y agoThere is a picture of the French edition of the algebra one here: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22497336109 https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22497336...
- vmilner 5y agoSome links to Grace Martin's books here - which include the French editions of her math TutorTexts: https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Grace+Emma+Craft+Martin%22 https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22...
- vmilner 5y agoJudging from this one - I think these are the series you remember: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Principes-d%C3%A9lectricit%C3%A9-Vol-Concepts-fondamentaux-structure/18408884765/bd https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Principes-d%C3%A9lectricit%C3%A9-...
- d4rkp4ttern 5y agoWow great find, thank you, I will look them up!
- d4rkp4ttern 5y agoSo these are now unavailable I guess, other than at specialty bookshops or collectors?