I fell upon a book that kept me glued and this book forms our story #37.
The book that kept me glued is ‘A Mathematician’s Lament’ by Paul Lockhart. The book laments the sad state of US national school system's way of teaching and thinking about math. He also proposes his solution. This book is one of the best critiques of current K-12 mathematics education.
The book is built on the assumption that mathematics is art. But, unlike what we traditionally consider the arts, where the patterns depend on properties of the physical world, mathematics is about making patterns of ideas.
This strongly worded opinion piece is organized into two parts. The first part, "#Lamentation", criticizes the way mathematics is typically taught in American schools and argues for an aesthetic, intuitive, and problem-oriented approach to teaching. The second part, "#Exultation", gives specific examples of how to teach mathematics as an art.
The author decries the state of math education, focusing on school mathematics. His point of departure is the idea that mathematics is the purest form of art and should be taught as such.
Some of his #writings are as follows:
*I'm not complaining about the presence of facts and formulas in our mathematical classes, I'm complaining about the lack of mathematics in our mathematical classes.
*I can understand the idea of training students to master certain techniques--I do that too. But not as an end in itself. Techniques in mathematics, as in any art, should be learned in context.
*Give your students a good problem, let them struggle and get frustrated. See what they come up with. Wait until they are dying for an idea, then give them some technique. But not too much.
*Everyone knows that math is important. I don't see how it's doing society any good to have its members walking around with vague memories of algebraic formulas and geometric diagrams, and clear memories of hating them.
*The saddest part of all this "reform" are the attempts to "make math interesting" and "relevant to kids' lives." You don't need to make math interesting--it's already more interesting than we can handle! And the glory of it is its complete irrelevance to our lives.
*Other math courses may hide the beautiful bird, or put it in a cage, but in geometry class, it is openly and cruelly tortured.
Though this book leaves me with two distinctly different reactions—that the lament is both realistic and unrealistic, but it surely caught my eye and kept me glued. Do give it a read if you are an educator or a math lover.
Sources:
<1> A Mathematician’s Lament - Book written by Paul Lockhart.
<2> A Mathematician’s Lament - Book review by William Schmidt.
<3> A Mathematician’s Lament - Book review by Alexander Bogomolny - Cut the knot.
#mathematician #lament #geometry #teaching #math #mathstories #story37
The book that kept me glued is ‘A Mathematician’s Lament’ by Paul Lockhart. The book laments the sad state of US national school system's way of teaching and thinking about math. He also proposes his solution. This book is one of the best critiques of current K-12 mathematics education.
The book is built on the assumption that mathematics is art. But, unlike what we traditionally consider the arts, where the patterns depend on properties of the physical world, mathematics is about making patterns of ideas.
This strongly worded opinion piece is organized into two parts. The first part, "#Lamentation", criticizes the way mathematics is typically taught in American schools and argues for an aesthetic, intuitive, and problem-oriented approach to teaching. The second part, "#Exultation", gives specific examples of how to teach mathematics as an art.
The author decries the state of math education, focusing on school mathematics. His point of departure is the idea that mathematics is the purest form of art and should be taught as such.
Some of his #writings are as follows:
*I'm not complaining about the presence of facts and formulas in our mathematical classes, I'm complaining about the lack of mathematics in our mathematical classes.
*I can understand the idea of training students to master certain techniques--I do that too. But not as an end in itself. Techniques in mathematics, as in any art, should be learned in context.
*Give your students a good problem, let them struggle and get frustrated. See what they come up with. Wait until they are dying for an idea, then give them some technique. But not too much.
*Everyone knows that math is important. I don't see how it's doing society any good to have its members walking around with vague memories of algebraic formulas and geometric diagrams, and clear memories of hating them.
*The saddest part of all this "reform" are the attempts to "make math interesting" and "relevant to kids' lives." You don't need to make math interesting--it's already more interesting than we can handle! And the glory of it is its complete irrelevance to our lives.
*Other math courses may hide the beautiful bird, or put it in a cage, but in geometry class, it is openly and cruelly tortured.
Though this book leaves me with two distinctly different reactions—that the lament is both realistic and unrealistic, but it surely caught my eye and kept me glued. Do give it a read if you are an educator or a math lover.
Sources:
<1> A Mathematician’s Lament - Book written by Paul Lockhart.
<2> A Mathematician’s Lament - Book review by William Schmidt.
<3> A Mathematician’s Lament - Book review by Alexander Bogomolny - Cut the knot.
#mathematician #lament #geometry #teaching #math #mathstories #story37
