Quoting "Adam P. Goucher" <apgoucher@gmx.com>:
The tragedy is that students who might have become mathematicians and scientists are frustrated and discouraged by a system that is geared towards the dumbest of the dumb. There is no "one size fits all" solution.
I have to agree with you there. Indeed, most maths tests are so routine that anyone capable of typing expressions into Wolfram Alpha could attain very high grades. I advocate the approach in Gerry Leversha's "Crossing the Bridge", which promotes a more articulate, thoughtful way of solving problems. I will hypothesize that mathematical ability is the least understood aspect of human psychology, and perhaps it is the most complicated part. I would guess there is huge variation in which parts of the brain are used for the operations. It is amazing that it can be taught at all.
I'd like to see more research on how people actually learn and do math in all its varieties. I have no confidence in any particular curriculum or methods. I don't even believe that the evaluation methods make any sense. Hilarie
Only by breaking the public education monopoly, and opening up education to competition will we discover the best processes.
Hmm, that sounds like Darwinian evolution. Unsuccessful curricula die out, and the schools originally teaching them adopt successful curricula and alter them slightly...
Sincerely,
Adam P. Goucher _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun