Math Education - Dumbing down our kids

[shlingdawg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI

It's a 15 minute video, but worth the watch. For those who have kids in elementary school, are your kids using these same methods to "learn" math?

I can't imagine having to help my kids with their homework and have to use these methods.

[moabfool]

:lame:

Here's a better math video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWlvstpG--k

Just kidding, yours is good too, but I was expecting something funny.

[Jaxx]

I support thinking about problems in different ways to train yourself to look at stuff from more than one view. But not teaching it the original way, the way I grew up doing it, doesn't seem to have a benefit. There is no way I could do that in my head. The sad thing is is that they are just trying to sell their books, greed will bring this country down.

[jumar]

That was interesting, thanks

[Cirrus2000]

Yes, definitely. Fascinating. I sat with my boy doing some "standard algorithm" multiplication yesterday. Man, you gotta have that stuff down. Calculators are good, yes, but you have to have an underlying concept of the framework, the building blocks. No, I don't want to multiply two 7-digit numbers without a calculator, but I sure as heck could.

[Brewhaha]

As a math teacher I am always working to help my students understand the "whys?" behind what they are learning. The regular algorithms that we all grew up with do a very poor job of explaining why. Basically, they are recipes for performing the operation but offer little insight into the reason behind it. They do have the advantage in that they work and they are familiar to parents and tutors.

These new approaches are supposed to be better at helping students understand why they do things the way they do. Theoretically, if a student knows why something is done then they can complete the task in a variety of different circumstances. However, the big drawback is that parents have no idea what these new algorithms are for. This makes it hard on parents who are trying to help and it often leads to frustration for the parent and the student.

In my opinion, we should teach the standard algorithms like we always have and leave these more nuanced approaches for later when (or if) students become interested.

But the idea behind the approaches is to find better ways to help students understand - something that we should all be striving for.

[Udink]

In my opinion, we should teach the standard algorithms like we always have and leave these more nuanced approaches for later when (or if) students become interested.
I'd have to agree with that. I watched the video, and realized that the two "non-standard" methods discussed (especially for multiplication) are exactly how I do math in my head. However, when doing it on paper, I use the standard methods. I was never taught the "non-standard" methods, but apparently my brain does a better job with them, and I'm sure at least some kids could benefit from learning it in addition to the standard methods.

[rockgremlin]

I disagree with her to a certain extent. She claims that those "Everyday Math" books are bad, and stress too much calculator usage. Personally, I think it's a good thing to teach students how to become more proficient with a scientific calculator. In the real world, calculators and computers are the tools of the trade in many occupations (engineering, accounting, business, etc) and many students don't know how to realize the full benefits that scientific calculators and computer programs are capable of.

That said, I do not disagree with anything else she said. Kids should be taught to think creatively, logically and critically very early on in school, and that example she used of the college kid who couldn't do 6X4 in his head is just ridiculous.

[Cirrus2000]

I think that the non-standard methods are great for ballparking in your head, but the precision and straightforwardness of the standard is hard to beat. I like what Brew said - teach the standard to start, as a solid foundation, and then get into other, more nuanced concepts later.