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I'm very much a math person, but I think this author is being rather naive. In the current political climate surrounding education, it seems like madness to say

by Steuard 13y ago

I'm very much a math person, but I think this author is being rather naive. In the current political climate surrounding education, it seems like madness to say, "Teach math more like we teach art!" After all, art classes in the US are pretty much first on the chopping block for the many, many people who think education should be all about test scores and checklists. I would love to see more kids exposed to "real math" somehow. But there's a valid question of how to make sure they wind up with practical, applicable skills in the process, and I found the arguments here about "the value of abstract thinking" too vague to feel convincing (at least to folks who aren't already immersed in real math). I don't know the answers to those questions, but I certainly hope we can find them.

j2kun 13y ago
The problem is that they already don't end up with practical applicable skills, and this method (teaching with an emphasis on discovery over lecture) is known to have results. See, for example, this lengthy technical document describing (in more scientific terms) teaching math like art [1] [1]: http://www.ams.org/notices/201308/rnoti-p1018.pdf http://www.ams.org/notices/201308/rnoti-p1018.pdf
jcampbell1 13y ago
Not to mention, "The curriculum is 1000 years old" is a terrible argument from a logical perspective. I have no idea if that means math is timeless or dated. There are other funny gems. "A mathematical statement is either true or false"
- arbitrage 13y ago
  Gödel might have something to say about that. Then again, he might not.
acknowledge 13y ago
I agree, and I don't see the relevance of 1,000 old findings to an bad math curriculum. The beauty of math is that findings 1,000 years ago are still relevant today. I think first steps in improving math education are teaching concept instead of calculation, and focus on understanding math principles instead of memorizing. As a math/CS major, when I wanted to fully understand the basic concepts of pi, pythagorean theorem, I looked back at how they were originally discovered. It gave math a story behind it, and these concepts stuck with me because I understood them. I think we could improve people's understanding of math through telling the story of many of the concepts, rather than throwing concepts at students and hoping that they stick. Stephen Wolfram discusses the concept will on Concept vs. calculation: http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers.html http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_m... Memorization is the road to failure in math, and many teachers push memorization rather than understanding.

by Steuard 13y ago

j2kun 13y ago

The problem is that they already don't end up with practical applicable skills, and this method (teaching with an emphasis on discovery over lecture) is known to have results. See, for example, this lengthy technical document describing (in more scientific terms) teaching math like art [1] [1]: http://www.ams.org/notices/201308/rnoti-p1018.pdf http://www.ams.org/notices/201308/rnoti-p1018.pdf

jcampbell1 13y ago

Not to mention, "The curriculum is 1000 years old" is a terrible argument from a logical perspective. I have no idea if that means math is timeless or dated. There are other funny gems. "A mathematical statement is either true or false"

arbitrage 13y ago
Gödel might have something to say about that. Then again, he might not.

acknowledge 13y ago

I agree, and I don't see the relevance of 1,000 old findings to an bad math curriculum. The beauty of math is that findings 1,000 years ago are still relevant today. I think first steps in improving math education are teaching concept instead of calculation, and focus on understanding math principles instead of memorizing. As a math/CS major, when I wanted to fully understand the basic concepts of pi, pythagorean theorem, I looked back at how they were originally discovered. It gave math a story behind it, and these concepts stuck with me because I understood them. I think we could improve people's understanding of math through telling the story of many of the concepts, rather than throwing concepts at students and hoping that they stick. Stephen Wolfram discusses the concept will on Concept vs. calculation: http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers.html http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_m... Memorization is the road to failure in math, and many teachers push memorization rather than understanding.