3 ms·

It's a nice argument. But it probably isn't a great way to explain a decline in performance that was larger in math than in reading!

• taeric 3y ago
  I'm not pushing it as a total answer. My assertion, though, is that reading is a fundamental part of math. We talk about them as if they are separate topics, but learning to "read" a math statement is a big part of learning how to use a math statement. In very "phonetic" style. You aren't necessarily looking for the phonemes, of course, but you are looking for what the constituent parts mean. For example, if you see "Sigma x", you almost certainly pronounce that as "sum". And you don't necessarily do that from "cues" around the symbol/letter sigma, but by learning how to decode it at a symbolic level. Same would go for "F = ma", you learn to read that as a relation of the three symbols. And you can play with it, "if that is F, what is m?" You can go further in the exploration and start learning units attached to the symbols, such that you can put it together.
  • isk517 3y ago
    I had a friend who needed to upgrade his math in order to qualify for a particular college program and asked me to tutor him. Ultimately didn't take very long because he showed me a sheet of problems he was working on and I noticed right away that he was writing our all of his equations horizontally (ex. 1 + x = y = x = y - 1) like one would write a sentence. All I had to do to significantly increase his grade was show him how to work through equations vertically. When I asked why none of his teachers berated him for this he said he just did it like he was taught. Afterwards I phoned my mother and told her she was definitely correct in her assessment that the Catholic school I was sent to provided a much higher quality education than the public schools in the area.
    • deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]