MetaFilter posts tagged with education and math

Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth

davar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:02:27 -0800

Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth. How children learn (or: don't learn) math today. The video explains the new ways children are taught division and multiplication and what is wrong with new new math (not to be confused with the new math that was taught in the sixties) or whole math. From the textbook in the video:The authors of Everyday Mathematics do not believe it is worth students’ time and effort to fully develop highly efficient paper-and-pencil algorithms for all possible whole-number, fraction, and decimal division problems. Mastery of the intricacies of such algorithms is a huge endeavor, one that experience tells us is doomed to failure for many students. It is simply counter-productive to invest many hours of precious class time on such algorithms. The mathematical payoff is not worth the cost, particularly because quotients can be found quickly and accurately with a calculator.

Why Learn Algebra? I'm Never Likely to Go There.

jabberjaw — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:27:39 -0800

EducationFilter: California becomes the first state to mandate all 8th graders take Algebra; in part because U.S. students constantly trail their peers from other nations in mathematics. At least one person thinks it's a bad idea ("If only 25 percent of this nation ever earns a college degree, why insist that all children take algebra in eighth grade?"). Here's the algebra curriculum 8th graders will have to learn. Here's a more in-depth story on it from the L.A. Times. This post's title is a paraphrased quote from comedian Billy Connolly: "I don't know why I should have to learn Algebra. I'm never likely to go there."

Crank That Honor Roll

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:10:05 -0800

Smart Shorties is a new CD being marketed to teachers that takes the beats from popular rap songs and rewrites them to the multiplication tables, with the intent of improving kids' math skills. Forbes has a nice roundup on it's history, and NPR has done a featurette on it as well At the very least, it's certainly worth a listen for the chuckle potential, but in addition to that, it's an interesting example of the now-booming Edutainment industry, something that not only spans CD's, but also computer games and even standalone video game consoles.

also, Smart Shorties is certainly not the only "Hip-hop in the classroom" product out there, nor is it the first.

A Mathematician's Lament

blasdelf — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:34:22 -0800

“…if I had to design a mechanism for the express purpose of destroying a child’s natural curiosity and love of pattern-making, I couldn’t possibly do as good a job as is currently being done — I simply wouldn’t have the imagination to come up with the kind of senseless, soul-crushing ideas that constitute contemporary mathematics education.”

“A complete prescription for permanently disabling young minds — a proven cure for curiosity. What have they done to mathematics! There is such breathtaking depth and heartbreaking beauty in this ancient art form. How ironic that people dismiss mathematics as the antithesis of creativity. They are missing out on an art form older than any book, more profound than any poem, and more abstract than any abstract. And it is school that has done this! What a sad endless cycle of innocent teachers inflicting damage upon innocent students. We could all be having so much more fun.”

It's a beautiful 25-page PDF, just 392k. (via)

learning math online

nickyskye — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:51:03 -0800

Free math courses online, from very basic to brainiac. No registration required.

Would you like to play a game?

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:29:28 -0800

Fun and games with mathematics and mathematical puzzles (e.g. heart basket, Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic, hypercubes, and more) in both English and (with yet more content in) German.

Basic Concepts in Science: A List

LeeJay — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:27:14 -0800

Basic Concepts in Science: A List A regularly updated list of blog entries explaining the basics of science and mathematics.

Aptitude Schmaptitude!: innumeracy in America

jason's_planet — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:30:58 -0800

Aptitude Schmaptitude! While the state of mathematical incompetence in this country has been much lamented, most famously in Paulos's brilliant 1988 book Innumeracy, it is still tacitly accepted . . . Being incompetent in math has become not only acceptable in this widely innumerate culture, it has almost become a matter of pride. No one goes around showing off that he is illiterate, or has no athletic ability, but declarations of innumeracy are constantly made without any embarrassment or shame.

The Narrow Road

phrontist — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:46:26 -0800

The Narrow Road : in which a professional mathematician guides you through pure mathematics (and touches on tangential issues).

MathFilter(edout)

daksya — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:56:00 -0800

The Value of Algebra: "Gabriela, sooner or later someone's going to tell you that algebra teaches reasoning. This is a lie propagated by, among others, algebra teachers."

MathematicsFilter

Gyan — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 19:11:55 -0800

Mathematics Awareness Month - April 2005: Essays, DVD, Links. Prior MAMs.

Nine, nine, nine...

sanitycheck — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:11:17 -0800

From MathNet to that silly song about the number nine, Square One was one of my all-time favourite programs as a kid. It hasn't been released on video or DVD, but luckily there are plenty of fansites with video clips, pics, and other media to take you on a trip down mathematical memory lane.

Dartmouth pattern course

edlundart — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 22:03:11 -0800

Mathematics and art are thoroughly explored as two intertwined fields, in this online version of a Dartmouth course focusing on patterns [more inside].

darren — Thu, 17 May 2001 07:05:28 -0800

Math text battles. Teachers unanimously recommended textbook series that helps students understand mathematical concepts. School Board ignored them and picked Saxon texts that promise to "raise scores on standardized tests." Are we teaching students to understand, or to score high and get politicians off the hook?