[Newsbot]

Title: Math petition presented to Alberta education officials | Globalnews.ca
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: N_Fiddledog
Date: 2014-01-30 10:15:37
Canadian

[N_Fiddledog]

This is the same thing as that "Common Core" thing that's causing all the furor in the States, right?

[martin14]

$1:

“They have to know that six times four equals 24, but they also have to know why it equals 24, and why eight times three equals 24,” explains Henzel.

No they don't.

Some things just are.

I, like most of us, was drilled the times tables and other stuff when I was a kid.
It stuck, it's still there.

Thanks, o educational system, for actually teaching me something.



It's no wonder kid's scores go lower down the drain every year.

[DanSC]

It is kind of important that kids realize that 6*4 = 6+6+6+6 = 4+4+4+4+4+4 = 24.

[ShepherdsDog]

You learn the idea of multiplication, and then you memorize the times tables. It`s a time saver when doing more complex functions.

There are high school kids here that are incapable of doing simple addition and subtraction. They literally have to draw lines and count them. I tried to explain a quadratic polynomial to some Grade 12 students, and out of 25 only 1 had a slight grasp.....and this guy figures he`ll get into an engineering program at the U of S next year.

[PluggyRug]

One of the more frustrating things I encountered when teaching computer stuff to students was the concept of zero.
I had to teach the decimal number system (0 to 9) before we moved on to binary (0 to 1) octal (0 to 7) and hexadecimal (0 to F). They counted from 1 to 10.

Binary division/multiplication was often impossible as most of my students couldn't do it with the comparatively simple decimal system.

[PluggyRug]

Dp

[fifeboy]

PluggyRug PluggyRug:

One of the more frustrating things I encountered when teaching computer stuff to students was the concept of zero.
I had to teach the decimal number system (0 to 9) before we moved on to binary (0 to 1) octal (0 to 7) and hexadecimal (0 to F). They counted from 1 to 10.

Binary division/multiplication was often impossible as most of my students couldn't do it with the comparatively simple decimal system.

Reminds me of the joke: "Now that I know that 0 is a number I can tell my friends with a streight face that I have slept with a 'number' of Super Models.'"

[DrCaleb]

PluggyRug PluggyRug:

One of the more frustrating things I encountered when teaching computer stuff to students was the concept of zero.
I had to teach the decimal number system (0 to 9) before we moved on to binary (0 to 1) octal (0 to 7) and hexadecimal (0 to F). They counted from 1 to 10.

Binary division/multiplication was often impossible as most of my students couldn't do it with the comparatively simple decimal system.

I tried to teach my cousin about the number 1 a few years back. She was trying to solve simple equations like 2X + 4Y = 10, and they didn't teach her things like 1 x 1 = 1, or 25 ÷ 25 = 1 ÷ 1 = 1.

How do they expect these equations to be solved if they don't know the basics? She dropped out of school in Junior High, and became a hooker.

[Thanos]

PluggyRug PluggyRug:

Dp

That's just filthy to mention on a family forum. Children could be listening!

[dino_bobba_renno]

I've been helping my oldest daughter with her math for a few years now and I'm completely disgusted at what they've done to the math curriculum. Everything is focused on problem solving with little or no emphasis placed on the theories behind what their doing. Add to that, rather than teaching the basics and using small numbers so the students can grasp the concepts of what they're doing they're given large complex numbers and are expected to use calculators. I don't now about anyone else but we weren't even allowed to use a calc until we hit trig.

And what how they're teaching addition and subtraction nowadays, you know I sort of get why they are using that method but still it seems ass backwards to me to go from left to right. I don't know, I get mad every time I think about it or go to help my kid with her home work.

[ShepherdsDog]

When we first did trig, our math teacher made each of us write out an equation on the blackboard, to show that we knew how to do it. We were then allowed to use a calculator

[fifeboy]

Hell- when I took trig we used slide rules. Calculators had a big handle on the side that you had to pull. They divided by repeat subtraction and if you made the mistake of dividing a large number by a very small one you had to wait or unplug it.

[PluggyRug]

fifeboy fifeboy:

Hell- when I took trig we used slide rules. Calculators had a big handle on the side that you had to pull. They divided by repeat subtraction and if you made the mistake of dividing a large number by a very small one you had to wait or unplug it.

Slide rules, still have a couple, was using one today to calculate the dimensions for 3 equispaced holes on a 2" diameter.

[ShepherdsDog]

fifeboy fifeboy:

Hell- when I took trig we used slide rules. Calculators had a big handle on the side that you had to pull. They divided by repeat subtraction and if you made the mistake of dividing a large number by a very small one you had to wait or unplug it.

slide ruler I took you for an abacus and slate man