tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post1488893172469534147..comments2023-12-15T07:51:27.673-08:00Comments on Betrayed - Why Public Education Is Failing: A statistician’s view of constructivist math programsLaurie H. Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18367210923946752695noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-34413123056228041022021-12-13T18:09:36.667-08:002021-12-13T18:09:36.667-08:00This is probably a silly question, but is this why...This is probably a silly question, but is this why it became nearly impossible to help kids with their math homework? They had to do so many unnecessary steps to get to a very simple answer. And if they didn't include all steps the problem was counted wrong even if the answer was correct. I never understood that. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15040906284856526912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-60792498779554955452012-06-28T07:13:47.760-07:002012-06-28T07:13:47.760-07:00When I entered a public school when I was 10-11 ye...When I entered a public school when I was 10-11 years old my math skills went drastically down even though I was one of the best math students in my previous school.<br /><br />And today I never learned math since then besides some basic statistic and graph analysis ( I am 22 now, working).<br /><br />Thank you so much for this article.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-13916687459955905362012-05-08T23:44:39.327-07:002012-05-08T23:44:39.327-07:00There is a wonderful (charity/non-profit) math tea...There is a wonderful (charity/non-profit) math teaching method developed by John Mighton in Canada called JUMP Math (jumpmath.org). It's the perfect antidote to reform/constructivist math and builds mastery and conceptual understanding as well as CONFIDENCE and passion. Crazily enough he has studies by third parties showing compelling evidence for how effective this method is across all skill levels. His book End of Ignorance is inspiring and very much in line with the comments expressed here.Laranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-39232190798203982912012-04-05T09:45:11.812-07:002012-04-05T09:45:11.812-07:00Actually Ken, Hessian Matrices are used in statist...Actually Ken, Hessian Matrices are used in statistics. So there is an actual real-life use for them. Sometimes they cause havoc in my modeling programs.<br />-NikNikkihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819405697070105077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-36698562869812530172012-04-03T14:00:20.045-07:002012-04-03T14:00:20.045-07:00This is an excellent article. I have been a math ...This is an excellent article. I have been a math tutor in four states and have found this horrible math curriculum everywhere. You are especially right that it does not develop a child's confidence in his ability to learn math, which then prevents them from being willing to tackle more advanced concepts. I fear that we now have a generational math phobia where many adults, especially elementary teachers, are personally fearful of math and they simply can not teach it to children. Bold, aggressive intervention is necessary, but I am not sure where we will find the force needed to make it happen.Melanie Kurdyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17079221445930929097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-39835725083802082882012-04-02T13:42:17.263-07:002012-04-02T13:42:17.263-07:00I believe Reform Math (which includes a dozen curr...I believe Reform Math (which includes a dozen curricula such as TERC, etc.) is exactly parallel to Whole Word. Both are devious, dishonest pedagogies that do the opposite of what is claimed. Whole Word makes kids illiterate. Reform Math makes kids mathematically illiterate. <br />I can't believe that the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), which worked to impose Reform Math, is an organization that deserves our respect.<br /><br />Bruce Deitrick PriceBruce Deitrick Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02881671487606709421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-43098053251208107842012-04-02T11:29:00.044-07:002012-04-02T11:29:00.044-07:00Laurie – Have the math reformists ever explained w...Laurie – Have the math reformists ever explained why THEY feel the "lattice" method, the Egyptian method, etc. should be included? Most people don’t include this superfluous stuff (aka fluff) without some reasons. Has anyone asked them why?<br /> <br />Ken Capron<br /> <br />PS: I learned numerous alternative algorithms in school but they came from teachers and not from books, and they were meant to be curiosities and fun. Even in college, we studied things like Hessian Matrices – which have little or no value except to an elite few programmers at Bell Labs working on queuing theory.Ken Capronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762201600804179432.post-92190448259367631692012-04-02T11:27:52.977-07:002012-04-02T11:27:52.977-07:00As a math educator who works primarily with second...As a math educator who works primarily with secondary and college level students, I agree with the points made here. I also have taken many mathematics courses (as I have a B.S. in mathematics) and have had to ask local students to show me things like the lattice method. I have been approached by teachers who ask how to make a particular method or explanation work when the reality is the method is mathematically flawed. Teaching high school mathematics becomes so much harder when concepts like long division have not been learned so polynomial long division has to start with regular long division lessons. Then that becomes difficult because students never learned basic multiplication facts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com