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I fail to see how one is going to master any branch of mathematics if arithmetic is a major obstacle.

by ekm2 14y ago

lutusp 14y ago
> I fail to see how one is going to master any branch of mathematics if arithmetic is a major obstacle. I can teach algebra and Calculus to a classroom of students without requiring anyone to do arithmetic. I would simply say, "Bring your calculators." There's no doubt that a facility with arithmetic is a very useful skill. But for many, it represents an obstacle on the road to mathematics, including some very useful and enriching mathematics. I think this will change in the future, as people become more comfortable with calculating devices. There was a similar change many centuries ago, at a time when the ability to memorize information was evidence of education. Then cheap print became available. Shortly thereafter the ability to read replaced the ability to memorize the teacher's words, as primary evidence of an education. I think the same thing will happen with arithmetic and mathematics -- they will increasingly be seen as separate, independent skills.
lutusp 14y ago
Second reply: http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/02/11/estonian-schools-to-teach-computer-based-math/ http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/02/11/estonian-schools... A quote: “We are re-thinking computer education with the assumption that computers are the tools for computation.,” said Mr. McLoone. “Schools are still focused on teaching hand calculating. Computation used to be the bottleneck. The hard part was solving the equations, so that was the skill you had to teach. These days that is the bit that computers can do. What computers can’t do is set up the problem, interpret the problem, think about validation and strategy. That is what we should be teaching and spending less time teaching children to be poor computers rather than good mathematicians.”

I fail to see how one is going to master any branch of mathematics if arithmetic is a major obstacle.

by ekm2 14y ago

I fail to see how one is going to master any branch of mathematics if arithmetic is a major obstacle.

> I fail to see how one is going to master any branch of mathematics if arithmetic is a major obstacle. I can teach algebra and Calculus to a classroom of students without requiring anyone to do arithmetic. I would simply say, "Bring your calculators." There's no doubt that a facility with arithmetic is a very useful skill. But for many, it represents an obstacle on the road to mathematics, including some very useful and enriching mathematics. I think this will change in the future, as people become more comfortable with calculating devices. There was a similar change many centuries ago, at a time when the ability to memorize information was evidence of education. Then cheap print became available. Shortly thereafter the ability to read replaced the ability to memorize the teacher's words, as primary evidence of an education. I think the same thing will happen with arithmetic and mathematics -- they will increasingly be seen as separate, independent skills.

lutusp 14y ago

Second reply: http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/02/11/estonian-schools-to-teach-computer-based-math/ http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/02/11/estonian-schools... A quote: “We are re-thinking computer education with the assumption that computers are the tools for computation.,” said Mr. McLoone. “Schools are still focused on teaching hand calculating. Computation used to be the bottleneck. The hard part was solving the equations, so that was the skill you had to teach. These days that is the bit that computers can do. What computers can’t do is set up the problem, interpret the problem, think about validation and strategy. That is what we should be teaching and spending less time teaching children to be poor computers rather than good mathematicians.”