Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth

TrisJash619 Says:

May 24, 2012 - Bitch Please ! We hate Maths ! M.A.T.H.S - Mental Admited Teachers harrasing Students !

smconley23 Says:

May 23, 2012 - Did you actually flip through a bunch of pages involving maps, distances, graphs, and population data, and say, "Where's the math?" That's hilarious.

besheba Says:

May 20, 2012 - Thank you, thank you, thank you for being willing to say it! :) Good luck to you and please don't give up on math just because you had the sad misfortune to be poisoned by this asinine program. You can do it! I hope my kids will eventually be able to as well.

XRadicalXRedX Says:

May 20, 2012 - I can honestly say what I just watched is appalling. By the way, memorizing the multiplication tables and knowing how to find the lowest common denominator using primes (2,3,5,7,11,..) are the keys arithmetic. Unbelievable, they are using distribution laws to alter the algorithms. The reason they are teaching inferior methods is they want your child to fail. The government knows what material and methods to use. I can guarantee in the private schools the proper methods are being taught.

Ana1106 Says:

May 18, 2012 - My daughter is bringing home Everyday Math and I thought oh how neat you learn everyday math right? Now I realize that the multiplication lattice they use is based on Chinese math. huh? My niece cannot do it and is confused. I taught her the way I learned in school and she did got it in one night. Now I realize why kids don't know math. Wow. I taught my male cousin a quicker way to add signed numbers and his teacher said he HAD to use a 3 step convoluted method she taught him in school. smh

Matt O'Neill Says:

May 12, 2012 - "Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth" presents a strawman argument and then knocks it down. By presenting the math information in a way that is confusing to individuals not familiar with the processes & not honestly addressing what the alternative math teaching styles are attempting to accomplish, is disengenuous. This is an advocacy video and should be viewed as such. For anyone interested in a more nuanced & honest discussion of this issues should watch james black's video.

Shadow642761 Says:

May 12, 2012 - Sometimes we put a zero here..???? We always put a zero there!!!!!

Michael Howell Says:

May 11, 2012 - I have a video titled "Calculus for 6th Graders" that dramatically simplifies the proofs behind "derivatives" and "integrals" — giving students a much more profound appreciation for the geometry behind the math. It is a disgrace just how much educators willfully fog the subjects that students are supposed to master. Textbooks need to be tested by students at least as much as students need tests. My senior-level courses in math rank among some of the most poorly taught.

lukechalloner Says:

May 10, 2012 - I must admit those books are a bit of a joke. And I tend to do all my calculations on paper or in my head by breaking the sums down into their individual parts. I find this works fairly well and quickly for multiplication but it is extremely slow when doing division, since then I have found long division to be a more suitable approach for division. In addition, I try to do as many calculations as possible in my head, or mentally avoiding the use of a calculator wherever possible. :)

x89codered89x Says:

May 3, 2012 - It's obvious that math reformation has good intentions. Who wouldn't want to make sure that their child is learning the best and most important mathematics to ensure a bright academic future (whether it contain heavy mathematics or not). The reasoning through problems is great; Richard Feynman would probably ensorse this approach! However, elementary school mathematics has to be made practical for kids to care, and we must teach them algorithms so that they have them in their back pocket later!

Boostaholic Says:

Apr 23, 2012 - khan academy

Chewbacca1978 Says:

Apr 22, 2012 - These Public Schools are setting our children to FAIL.Or Dumbing Down.

blubudubbel Says:

Apr 22, 2012 - In Germany, students are taught these basic algorithms for 4 years in the elementary - right before they choose which secondary school they want to attend afterwards (there are three types in Germany, they differ in their respective graduation). But, although the students choose other paths of education, every one is/should be able to do common maths and I think this is a very important thing to learn. Besides, German children are also taught to use these other ways, but only for MENTAL solving.

MWMATHNESS Says:

Apr 21, 2012 - The fundamental challenge in teaching elementary mathematics in North America originates from the fact that elementary school teachers are not subject specialists. Many of them, if not most, are dedicated in teaching their students; however that dedication is not supported with a solid knowledge of mathematics. Naturally, they are the product of the system hence they are not fully aware that things could be done differently. A mastery of fundamentals is the key to success in any discipline.

dezdichado1 Says:

Apr 21, 2012 - There are way too many idiots teaching mathematics in the public education system. They all want to "innovate" something. They think that "making math fun" means to put in idiotic and strictly unrelated pictures, photographs in math texts. Institutionalized infantilism is rampant in general in the public education system. I saw "get readyy Zumbini" pictures there, not a single challenging problem...I recommend instead Richard Rusczyk's textbooks, excellent books written by a math genius

6771Randy Says:

Apr 20, 2012 - Thanks for the presentation! Excuse me while I go kick my dog out of frustration(Just Kidding)! Learning basic math helps me to do more complicated math in my head using common sense.

maynardr6 Says:

Apr 20, 2012 - a few things 1) I use this technique they're calling reasoning all the time. If you do it enough, it easy, and you don't need paper. In the real world, I'd be hard pressed to even locate paper in my house, and I never have a pen. What I do have is a phone, computer, laptop, and calculators all over the place. I do math all the time. It's probably been a decade since I didn't do it in my head or on a calculator because the standard algorithm is pretty crappy for doing math in your head.

integralmath Says:

Apr 20, 2012 - In the future, give 'watching a video for comprehension' a try; it makes one quite a bit less idiotic. Quite clearly @ 6:40(ish) in, she says that these other methods are wonderful 'teaching tools'. In other words, one uses many different methods to explain the abstract notion of how multiplication works, and then one presents an algorithm that is used for efficient resolution of problems. It is unwise to derive a solution from the fundamental theorem of arithmetic for every problem, forever.

munki037 Says:

Apr 11, 2012 - yeha... thats not a logical way to do math.. takes too long... and whats the point? Good thing I am not a kid in school anymore... otherwise i would hate my life.

icefall1793 Says:

Apr 9, 2012 - For those who are defending Everyday Math and Investigations: In Asia (specially Korea/Japan), elementary/middle school classes can be up to 50 kids (usually 40), so teachers rarely help individual students due to the large amount of students and time constrains. Yet, they are able to cope with the math simply because they have the basics down. Memorizing the multiplication tables and the standard algorithms help them in the future even if they don't get it at the moment.

bbpennstate10 Says:

Apr 4, 2012 - Teach the stuff. Cut the fluff. Everyday Math and Investigations need to be eliminated. I'm going to school to become a middle school/high school math teacher. Also, students need to be fluent in multiplication. These new programs aren't emphasizing fluency! Bring back the standard algorithm!

jb3689 Says:

Mar 30, 2012 - I whole-heartedly agree. In fact, I'm really troubled by the fact that the distributive, associative, and commutative are mastered so late (if at all) in most childrens' careers. Most algebra problems can be solved using these simple manipulations along with a few others, yet we force feed our children mathematical fast food such that they never make the connections necessary to truly understand algebra when they get there

cjames745 Says:

Mar 25, 2012 - No, I don't think kids should learn how to multiply and divide more than single digit numbers by the time they are in fifth grade. I think they should give them a damn calculator and teach them fucking Algebra. We could get everybody doing multidimensional calculus by the end of high school if we skipped the pointless exercise of teaching long division or whatever this new BS is. Algebra and calculus are only hard because we're exposed too late. We were too busy memorizing pointless skills.

ClearOutSamskaras Says:

Mar 25, 2012 - It is disgusting to turn pages, lick fingers for traction, and turn pages ... Every gross person that does this acts like its the most normal thing in the world. Re: Subject matter; the standard algorithms should be taught.

titarse100 Says:

Mar 23, 2012 - This level of maths is simply the alphabet of maths. If the kids can't get her algorithm method then they should give up on life in general because so many things we do are standard routines....dressing ourselves for example. American education babies up learning so much and worries more about explaining science in English instead of Maths. We all had to work hard to get the basics. The lattice method is simply a lazy man's non method