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

In article <UbDVg.14649$5o5.123@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
The poster formerly known as Colleyville Alan <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Arturo Magidin" <magidin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eg4110$umb$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

snip
Do you enjoy math?

If I didn't I wouldn't be a mathematician.

If so, why?

The pleasure of finally solving a problem that once seeemed
unsurmountable is a very big part of it.

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)?

In my opinion, it is the latter. Math is not taught because "it is
worth knowing". It is taught because you need to know it to function.

The second question is: what does "knowing thoroughly" mean?

Is basic arithmetic "worth knowing"? Certainly; everyone needs to know
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of rational
numbers, at the very least. Butis it worth knowing "thoroughly"?
Should they know that the natural numbers are categorically determined
by the Peano axioms? Should they know how to construct integers out of
naturals, rationals out of integers? Should they know a number of
nuances that we all know and appreciate here? If they don't, can we
really say they "know it thoroughly"?

I simply disagree. There are things that are worth knowing
superficially by everyone, and that only those truly interested in
going beyond should be expected or required to know "thoroughly". In
fact, there are things that it is a waste of time to teach
"thoroughly", for most understandings of "thoroughly".

As to making the subject "enjoyable"... That is such a subjective
thing; certainly certain teaching methods are more or less likely to
make it so. But in any case, I simply do not see why "making it
enjoyable" should be our goal. The goal should be, pure and simple, to
have students that learn the material and are able to use them for the
purposes that they need them (which is presumably the reason they are
being taught the material in the first place).

Perhaps a better question still is "how could teachers present the subject
matter in such a way that students will experience '...the pleasure of
finally solving a problem that once seeemed unsurmountable...'"? Heck, that
gets you going, it oughta work for the students as well!

Why? Some people derive NO pleasure in solving problems, whether easy
or hard. Isaac Asimov once wrote that he ->hated<- problems; unless he
saw the solution immediately, in which case he felt they were boring,
they were only a source of frustration that was not paid for by
solving them. There was no pleasure whatsoever for him. Was he an
ignoramus? Was he someone who simply was not taught math properly?
No. He simply did not feel the same way I do. Why should I expect my
students to get going for the same reasons I get going?

--
======================================================================
"It's not denial. I'm just very selective about
what I accept as reality."
--- Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes" by Bill Watterson)
======================================================================

Arturo Magidin
magidin-at-member-ams-org

.

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