Re: Why do so many people hate or have trouble with math? Your input is needed!

"Arturo Magidin" <magidin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eg8vg2$1frl$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
How could teachers and students make math more fun to learn?

Why does it have to be "fun"?

Because students who enjoy the subject will learn it more thoroughly than
those who hope that once the final exam is over they never have to see
another math book. If the subject is worth knowing, it is worth knowing
it
thoroughly, not superficially.

The first question is: WHY do we teach mathematics in K-12?

Is it because "math is worth knowing", or is it because basic math
skills are as necessary as basic literate skills (reading and
writing)?

Basic math skills such as "addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division of rational numbers" are taught well before the 12th grade, so
asking about K-12 lumps too many years into the "basic math" learning phase.
Around the 7th grade students are introduced to pre-algebra or algebra.
Many of them ask a similar question to the one you just asked "WHY do we
have to study this". They also provide a reason why they should not have to
study it: "I'll never use it".

So, why teach algebra? Many people do go through life without using it and
they do not "need it to function". IMHO, we teach algebra to middle school
and high school students for the same reason that we teach them history,
because we feel that it is part of what an educated person should know.

As to "knowing thoroughly", it is as subjective as the word "enjoyable".
You mention that some things are worth knowing superficially. Ok, many
students know basic arithmetic skills superficially and that seems to work
for them. But again, consider algebra. Many students memorize stuff for an
exam and promptly forget it. That stuff they do not know even superficially
six weeks after the exam. In that case, why bother teaching it? Shouldn't
you want them to learn it well enough that they don't forget the vast
majority of it? Many adults who hated math as kids still possess basic
arithmetic skills but not basic algebra skills. Would it not be worthwhile
to try and find ways of teaching algebra so that they had basic algebra
skills years later?


.

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