How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math

http://nautil.us/issue/17/big-bangs/how-i-rewired-my-brain-to-become-fluent-in-math

by prajjwal • 12 years ago

23 6 12 years ago

j2kun2• 12 years ago

And indeed, it's easier for teachers to induce students to discuss a mathematical subject (which, if done properly, can do much to help promote understanding) than it is for that teacher to tediously grade math homework.

It's much easier to give rote problems and grade them mindlessly because it doesn't require you to engage the students in any way. Moreover, engaging your students requires you to actually know the mathematics more deeply than a textbook, and most high school math teachers don't come close to this.

..., someone who dances daily with triple integrals, Fourier transforms, and that crown jewel of mathematics, Euler’s equation

I've met scores of engineers who can "dance" with triple integrals, and yet are still terrible at formulating or understanding the most basic of mathematical claims. But what do they do in their jobs? They certainly don't compute integrals all day.

Being good at mathematics requires practice, as does every pursuit, nobody is contending that. But what this author (and most critics of Common Core) don't understand is that knowledge of mathematical facts and rote symbolic manipulation skills is not equivalent to skill at mathematics. We do not teach our students mathematics so they can swim in triple integrals. We teach them mathematics to develop analytical minds. Rote computation does not do this, and thank goodness the standards writers are finally starting to acknowledge that.

endzone• 12 years ago

"'ve met scores of engineers who can "dance" with triple integrals, and yet are still terrible at formulating or understanding the most basic of mathematical claims. But what do they do in their jobs? They certainly don't compute integrals all day."

scores eh?

j2kun2• 12 years ago

between tens and hundreds?

harry8• 12 years ago

It's just a damn teaser. :-( "The full article appears in the Fall 2014 Nautilus Quarterly. Subscribe today!"

droope• 12 years ago

How fucking annoying! :S

jc123• 12 years ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8402859

How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math

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