DailyDirt: Arithmetic Is The Third R?
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
International math tests seem to consistently show that Americans don't have competitive math skills. We can argue that these tests don't measure real-life capabilities, but it might also be nice to see math test scores rise someday. Given the growth of online educational tools, the accessibility of good (and effective) math lessons will hopefully help to improve everyone's math talents. Here are just a few interesting links on the topic of math.- A study of German math students suggests that parental pressure and good grades don't provide lasting incentives for kids to learn math skills. It seems obvious that the motivation behind learning would affect how well a student learns, but the conclusion could have some interesting effects on education policy and how to most effectively teach children. [url]
- Equations Squared is an online math game that assesses a player's skills as he/she plays -- awarding points for more complex mathematical understanding. The story of how this game was created is interesting, and the game won the grand prize in the ETS Math Assessment Game Challenge. [url]
- Math textbooks are created by a publishing industry which doesn't necessarily care about the quality of education. There are a lot of problems in the US education system, but there may be some creative destruction in store for the textbook industry. [url]
- Adding a nonsensical math equation to your writing can give it a bit more authority. a^n+b^n=c^n QED [url]
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Filed Under: arithmetic, education, equations, gamification, math, textbooks
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international testing
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Re: international testing
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/january/test-scores-ranking-011513.html
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Re: Re: international testing
yes, the problem with international testing is you are tested and compared to other countries. And it shows up just how poor your educational system is.
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Re: Re: international testing
The problem is Americans are just not good at math, it's not international testing getting the answers WRONG...
It's stupidity and ignorance.
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Re: Re: international testing
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Re:
ie: 2^2 is 2 squared
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The Three R's
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Re: The Three R's
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Re: Re: The Three R's
Or at least, that's where I heard it first. Apparently it stood for something similar-ish about 200 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_three_Rs
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Re: Re: Re: The Three R's
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^ symbol for exponent
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All us apologists at Techdirt know what it is
/sarc
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Haven't performed long division in 3.5 years and that was just to help my daughter in math class.
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Math teachers should start teaching math by offering a real world problem that can be solved using that math, that is what drives interest in my opinion, the problems should also be about current tendencies.
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like 'gravity accelerates' object towards the earth at 9.8m/s/s
or second^2
what physics do you know that does not describe the real world ?
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My 3 R's
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at least your right there, it measures real world INcapabilities.
so you are willing to argue that even though Americans cannot do math tests does not mean they don't know how to do maths ?
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Simply Americans do not display a reasonable level of technical or educational knowledge either in testing or in real life.
Self denial, that's an entirely different issue though. (but it's the test that is wrong).. we are really smart 'honest' !!!!!
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