A Mathematicians Lament [pdf]

https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf

by an-selm • 4 years ago

2 3 4 years ago

_lnwk• 4 years ago

Ah, the classic. I encourage everyone strolling through the comments to read it, even if you'll end up disagreeing with it.

an-selm• 4 years ago

How would you disagree with it? In regards to its view on math or on math education? I have thought a bit about this and I see quite a few problems with his approach to the latter: a) the number of students b) the frequent lack of motivation of the pupils (which probably will never completely go away) c) the lacking education/motivation of the teachers

So I dont really think that for large-scale education his ideas can be implemented, but that they are great for teaching your kids/friends about something.

But I do not see how you could not agree with him that the current situation is disastrous, since everything he said hit home for me when I was a student. So I would really appreciate if you could point out where he is wrong, since a big part of my views about education/math are based on this.

Claude_Shannon• 4 years ago

I agree with it - but I've heard often that people didn't like his text.

A Mathematicians Lament [pdf]

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