kbobam Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I was kind of bummed out when hdesousa pointed out that the teaching of mathematics as most of us know it is dying out. I'm assuming this phenomenon is based on the belief that if you have a calculator you're 'good to go'. Geesh. Kids have been asking why they have to learn things since the beginning of time. ("I'll never use this!") But the bottom-line has always been that it's important to 'learn to learn'. What's changed? This new 'robotic' approach to everything is going to blow up in our faces one of these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I no longer have the access I used to have to observe trends in mathematical education, but I think they still teach mathematical operations. Also, skill is required to set up a problem reasonably even if you have a calculator capable of solving it. And finally, supposedly, kids are being taught to tell whether the answer they get makes sense. If they should be getting an answer in the millionths and get one in the millions, hopefully they'll have enough numerical sense to recognize it's off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yazookz Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 This technology era that began in the mid 90's (computers & cell phones) is having a sweeping affect on everyone, but most noteably the 90's generation and above that are now young adults in their mid to upper 20's and math isn't the biggest concern, but their ability to communicate with each other. The best case for this is the senseless crimes being committed daily; killing each other over the simplest of things. I better stop because it's really caused by something removed before that in the name of freedom and rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hipocritter Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Both my sons love to deal with math in their heads. Probabilities & Profits. Yes, they have access to all kinds of current electronics. They use what they need. Both have small businesses that they run now as adults. When they were toddlers My Pop taught them math by playing a money game. He would give them handfuls of coins, varied - pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and asked them to add them up. Tell Grand Pop how much there was. When they got it right they got to keep the money. They learned to always get the right answer in no time. Both, now grown men, still love to play mind games with math. The older one, Adam, plays cribbage for fun. There is all kinds of number relationships in card games. Brady, the forty year old, is playing the same 'Pocket Change Game' with his two year old daughter. She's getting the hang of it already. Making money is a good incentive towards learning math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aleecee Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 My husband is a high school teacher...his students do not know how to tell time with an analog clock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacyw Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 A fundamental change has taken place in the approach to learning these days. It used to be common practice to learn to do something in the "old way" or 'the hard way" or in the most simplified way before moving on to the mechanized or "easy way". We learned to print, then to write in cursive and then to type. Addition and subtraction were taught before multiplication and division and THEN we used the calculator. In the same way, we learned to hand sew, drive a standard transmission car, and push a mower before tackling the sewing machine, an automatic transmission or a riding tractor. In my opinion this type of "progressive" (pun intended) learning gave people a deeper understanding of the the time and effort saving devices they used. Too often today, young people can be wizards at using the latest tools and techniques but still have a really shallow skill set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Nicely put. I heard two fathers of teenagers talking recently, and one of them said that there was no way in heck he was going to let his daughter get her license until she was 'functional' with a manual transmission. The other dad agreed. Made sense to me. ( : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacyw Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Yep, I was told the same thing by my Father. And believe me, you haven't lived until you've done a 3-point turn on a steep, blind hill, on a city street, in a 62 VW with a pre-synchromesh transmission, during your road test.... 40+ years later and still haven't owned an automatic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 In case you haven't seen it, here's a really nice Subaru ad that makes me think of you two. ( : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZiGe2ArTOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 I highly recommend watching http://www.racetonowhere.com/ to get a sense of the state of America's schools today. In my experience with my 5th grader, math is still idolized at the expense of language arts, but children are not taught to think, only to pass tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Wanna know why they dont understand math anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacyw Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 BUmblebee - interesting point about language arts taking a back seat to math. "Arse-backwards" as my GGranny would say. Especially with the communications tools we have today, if one has a good command of the language arts, one can find the answer to nearly any math question readlily. But, math prowess, while laudable, will not help anyone communicate, and communication vital to continued learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacyw Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 And KBob - I really liked that commercial too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 'racetonowhere' looks like a very interesting resource. I think I was lucky to be at a place that emphasized, or at least, didn't downplay language. To this day I consider Latin to be the most valuable part of my education. It's hard to explain this, and would be particularly tough to explain to a young person, whose natural reaction would of course be "are you out of your freaking mind?" 'New Math' is hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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