... Learning

And then there was the Math class...

…which began with the teacher saying to the students assembled on the carpet:
   the number of sides in a pentagon, times
   the number of sides in a square, plus
   the number of days in a week
   rounded to the nearest ten
What 2 numbers, when multiplied together, give you this result?

The hands in the room went up, and then in rapid succession: "2x15!" "3x10!" "5x6!"

A couple of things worth noting, for context:
  These were 3rd graders
  We saw neither paper nor pencils; all these calculations were done mentally, and quickly.
  This was the warm up; the following exercises were harder and faster.

I certainly understand the frustration of parents, who having been taught Math the old, “algorithmic” way, struggle to help their children with their homework. I also think that more could be done to bridge the “old” and “new” approaches. (I believe the latest edition of “Investigations Math” addresses this issue.)

However, I have to say, as someone whose best subject in school was Math, this conceptual approach to Math instruction that began in State College a couple of years ago is the best thing since sliced bread.

Although I was taught the old, algorithmic way, the reason I was good at Math – and perhaps, just as importantly, the reason I enjoyed it – was that I understood it conceptually. The only time I struggled (briefly) was with multiplication, until someone explained why you “carried the one”.

(I also had good teachers. My high school Calculus teacher spent the first day of class demonstrating how the theory of calculus was developed. Very cool. Woe to the student whose first exposure to calculus is the mechanics of derivatives.)

It is a crime against all that is good that generations of Americans have been trained to believe that “they’re not good at Math” or that “Math is boring”.

An idea to consider: a Continuing Education course in “Investigations for Adults”.

You do the Math.