Archive for the ‘Learning mathematics’ Category

The article Go figure - "Everyday Math" shows there's more than one way to solve a problem, but it has parents lost in translation [which is no longer available] demonstrates two things: Mathematics education is one extended experiment Parents never have a clue what is going on in schools - especially in math In the […]

A study by the American Institutes for Research has some scathing things to say about the state of literacy - readin’, writin’ and ’rithmetic - of US graduating college seniors. Concerning mathematics literacy, the study says: Students in 2- and 4-year colleges have the greatest difficulty with quantitative literacy: approximately 30 percent of students in […]

Harold Brochmann raised a lot of interesting points about math education, most of which I agree with. Approaches to math are mostly failing.

The debate continues. In Connecticut, Dept of Education math consultant Dr. Charlene Tate-Nichols stirred up a public meeting on the teaching of mathematics. The usual things were aired, like: Kids today use calculators and when you use a calculator, you're divorced from the numbers. One guy trots out the Singapore mathematics model: Noting that Singapore […]

Is all stress bad when it comes to learning? A BBC article sheds light.

IBM has an interesting offer to financially back employees who want to leave the company to become math and science teachers as reported in eSchool News (article no longer available). They are doing this to help improve the level of math, science and technology in US schools. Sorry to be cynical, but depending on what […]

My continuing saga regarding HeyMath. It still has usability problems.

Thomas Friedman was in Singapore recently to deliver a talk (read 'book promotion') on his theory that "The Earth is Flat". The talk was okay, but I found Friedman somewhat condescending in tone. While I agree that technology can help to level the playing field and help poorer nations have a better competitive edge, I […]

A lot of people do hate math, and advertisements like this one don't help the situation.

It seems to me that there is a critical shortage of qualified, enthusiastic and capable mathematics teachers in schools in Western countries. Certainly this is the case in Australia, where the number of students signing up for mathematics teaching is pitiful (there were 6 in Queensland state in the year that I left - that's […]