Ancalagon
Computer Geek
Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 2388
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 Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 11:16 am Post subject: |
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| rabbittss wrote: | | I just got done reading something interesting. I went and had a conversation with my mom, and she mentioned something I had never heard of before. Apparently when she was in school, in the 60's, they taught something called "new Math". Apparently it was designed to introduce higher math concepts to younger and younger kids in the hopes they could catch up with the soviets in terms of education attainment. |
From what I've heard about the 'new math', the ideas were good, but they were poorly executed. There's a thing called set theory, and it has an incredible importance to modern mathematics and the basics are really pretty intuitive. The way they taught it just confused people, though, and they didn't really explain why this idea was so important.
| Quote: | | However, the program was basically a colossal failure, and lead to books such as "Why Johnny Can't Add: the Failure of the New Math.". Even Richard Feynemen spoke out against this bizarre new math which used Base 8 instead of Base 10. |
I read something Feynman wrote about it, and he had less of a problem with the idea than the execution of the idea. Actually teaching what different bases are and how they work can lead to a better understanding of how base 10 works, even if you never actually use a different base in practice, so that part I wouldn't have a problem with.
There are some more modern reform efforts, and I've read a bit about them, too. They seem to take more of a 'self-discovery' tack on it, and try to pose problems to a group of students to try to solve. (By 'problems' here, I'm actually talking about actually substantial problems, not just calculations.) There are good and bad things about this approach, IMHO. The teachers have to buy into the idea before it has a chance of working. There is usually group work involved, and so you can get some students who just sit there without a clue while some other student in the group ends up doing all the work, which isn't any good except for the one doing the work. The basic idea of this reform movement is also good -- they want students to discover things themselves, which provably leads to better understanding and retention. The problem with it is that some of the solutions to these things are not obvious and originally took a talented mathematician to figure out in the first place, so you don't necessarily get the best way to do it.
| Quote: | | My two cousins, My sister and I also do not have a firm understanding of math, and I'm wondering now if what we are dealing with is some sort of trickle down effect. Since so much school work is now done at home, if you don't have some one who understands it and can help you with your homework.. you don't excel at the homework.. barring being exceptionally bright or inclined to do it on your own. No Help, you begin to fall behind, the further behind you fall, the less able you are to do the newer material due to having shakier and shakier foundations. |
I think it's more that math is a hard subject that typically isn't taught very well. The idea that shaky foundations hurt you is definitely correct.
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"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." --G. K. Chesterton |
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Farwhall
Emu Egg
Joined: Apr 29, 2012
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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I know that feel, man.
Have you tried getting an interview with someone important to try and get leniency on account of your other good grades? |
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