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

The poster formerly known as Colleyville Alan wrote:
"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".

And they have no idea. Certainly if they don't know it then they'll
never use it. Which, of course, is the same one might say about reading
and writing. It is possible to go through life with a 3rd grade reading
and writing level. You don't really "need to learn to read" any better
than that. If they say "I'll never use" any better reading skill, are
they right?

I disagree with your assertion that algebra is taught for the same
reason we teach history, as part of general educational background. The
most basic notions of algebra are somethng which people should be using
just as they use arithmetic. From figuring out that 15% tip without
having to use a little card, to figuring out that getting a 10%
discount on the 25% discounted item is not a 35% discount. Of course, I
certainly agree that algebra is not ->being<- taught in a way that
makes this clear. ->I<- think this is in part because it is often
misguidedly thought of as something which we teach because we think any
educated person should know some algebra the same way he should know
some history and some geography. I think that is simply not the case.

I also think teaching trig and geometry should be replaced with basic
probability and statistics, but maybe that's just me.

So, why teach algebra? Many people do go through life without using it and
they do not "need it to function".

And many people go through life without knowing how to read and write,
and they do not need it to function (i.e., earn a wage and be able to
buy food and pay for shelter).

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.

That I do not agree with.

As to "knowing thoroughly", it is as subjective as the word "enjoyable".

I certainly agree. But then, what does it mean to try to teach things
so that people "know them thoroughly"? It's like trying to teach music
so that people will learn to "enjoy Stravinsky".

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.

I certainly agree with you that algebra is not taught in a good way.
But I do not think the solution is to make it "fun" or "enjoyable." I
think the solution is to figure out ->why<- we teach it in the first
place; I think that teaching algebra as "exercise for the mind" (not
what you say, but something I've heard often enough from other
sources), or as you put it as an analog to history, "a part of what an
educated person should know", i.e., as 'general culture', is misguided.
For that matter, if we teach algebra for the same reason we teach
history, then it is hardly a suprrise that the results are the same:
many students memorize the dates and names for the exam and promptly
forget them, do they not?

That stuff they do not know even superficially
six weeks after the exam.

Same for history. Then perhaps we should not be taking the teaaching of
history as a model to be followed?


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?

I would want them to learn it the same way I would want them to learn
arithmetic, basic statistics, and basic logic; the same way I would
want them to learn to read and write. I certainly don't want them to
learn the basics of algebra the way we deal with history or geoegraphy.
I do not think algebra is (or rather, should be) taught for that
reason.

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?

Certainly. I just don't think that this is possible so long as algebra
is being viewed the way Latin and Greek were once upon a time, a sign
of education or a part of what "any educated person should know." If
they knew what algebra is for (if the people teaching it knew what
algebra was for) and used it on a regular basis, their algebraic skills
would no doubt be about the same as their arithmetic ones. Then perhaps
they could figure out what the gas mileage on their car actually is,
how many gallons they can buy if they only have 20%, how much to leave
for a tip when the service was good and you'd like to leave 18% instead
of the usual 15%, and the like.

I am certainly not saying math is being taught ->well<- now. But I
think part of the problem is an erroneous view of ->why<- math is being
taught in the first place, and what the objective of that instruction
should be.

But again, it could very well just be me.

Arturo Magidin

.

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