Musings of a half-crazed weazl » Philosophy http://www.weazlrants.com bordering on the realm of the philosophic Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:34:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 The Lost Art of Mathematics http://www.weazlrants.com/archives/2009/06/the-lost-art-of-mathematics/ http://www.weazlrants.com/archives/2009/06/the-lost-art-of-mathematics/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:34:55 +0000 Dimwitweasel http://www.weazlrants.com/?p=69 One of my friends recently introduced me to an essay recounting some of  the wrongs of our current education system, with regard to Mathematics. A Mathematician’s Lament, by Paul Lockhart, tells of a society that has taken an art form and utterly defiled it. Our beloved “Educational System,” with its standardized tests, set curriculum, and competitive goals, has removed true mathematics from the eduction process altogether, in favor of memorization and regurgitation. Gone are the days when students were challenged to come up with their own solutions to mathematical problems, no longer do students learn why 1 + 1 is equal to 2, or why the area of a triangle is one-half of its base multiplied by its height. Instead, we are told that it “just is,” “it doesn’t matter why, just memorize the formula, you’ll need it for the test.” No wonder students hate math class so much. Read the essay, its worth it.

Peace.

“Lockhart’s Lament” alternate link

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