Posted by
Brett on Saturday, October 21, 2006 8:23:03 PM
I heard about this study on the Laura Ingraham show the other day then found it on
cnn.com. The headline reads, "Confident students do worse in math; bad news for the U.S." and cites a study from the Brookings
Institute
(read it here) showing that students who feel less confident about their
math skills from nations where math is not made "fun, and relevant"
outperform students from other nations that focus on feeling good about
yourself and making learning fun.
As a fourth year high school
math teacher, I have been telling students that the math they are doing
is not always going to be relevant to their adult lives. They may never
use this math again after they finish school and get out into the "real
world". The math we do at the algebra and geometry level is meant to be
a foundation to move onto more applicable subjects like calculus. Most
of my students will not take calculus and never realize the usefulness
of what they are studying in algebra and geometry. Calculus is real
world math along with sciences such as physics. Though geometry will
sometimes be used in calculating areas and perimeters, much of it is
foundational. The same is true with algebra. Most people will never
solve linear systems or graph parabolas outside of math class or unless
they become a math teacher. (There is one other instance where they
will use it which will become very clear when little Junior comes to
them and asks, "Dad, how do I solve this three variable linear system
using the linear combination method?")
In American, we have
embraced the stupid idea that learning cannot take place unless it is
fun and exciting with colorful projects andmulti -media presentations.
Learning can take place this way but often, learning is not fun. Most
of my college and high school years were spent doing things that I
didn't want to do. Tests, studying, homework, and papers all got in the
way of the fun I would have rather had but I did it anyway. Now, years
later, I can understand the benefit of the "learning" that took place.
I am a much more productive citizen to this great country because I
have a general education. I know history, I know reading and writing
skills, I know math skills, I know biology and other sciences. I do not
use that information every day but it is nice to know.
Math is
not always fun, especially the basics. To do higher level math you need
to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. That takes practice
and memorization (the dreaded "M" word in today's schools). This leads
to the ability to understand the basic principle of the order of
operations and fractions. When you understand this you can do things
like complex fractions and factoring. You can graph any equation that
is presented. All of this leads to conceptual understand as you
discover how everything relates to the previous skill that was
mastered.
In this country, we do not require students to
memorize the basics because we have calculators. Calculators have
crippled our students by giving them a fallback when they don't know
multiplication tables.
One district here has done a great job
by raising their percent of students passing the state test from 34% to
74%. How did they do this? They gave their kids graphing calculators,
taught them how to use them, and showed them how to become great
multiple choice test takers. Their kids do not understand anything
better than they did before but according to the state, they are doing
a great job. Our school, on the other hand is still at 39% passing
because we try to teach them skills rather than how to pass the state
test. We try to teach them how to graph by hand rather than punching an
equation into the calculator and matching it to a picture from the
test.
That is not learning, at least when it comes to math. There is a different learning happening. Our former Assistant Super Intendant
once said to me, "There is no such thing as intrinsic motivation, only
extrinsic. If these students are failing then it is because we have not
motivated them." That was one of the dumbest things I have ever heard
anyone say but that is the philosophy of most of our educators today.
Motivation must start on the inside. As a teacher, it is my job to
take that intrinsic motivation on build upon it extrinsically. Our
students have been raised to think that if the teacher is not making it
fun, then they don't have to do it. That is why our students are
performing so poorly. That is what this study exposes.
The
answer is not to become like China and the other countries that perform
well. The key is to swing the pendulum back towards the middle where
students are free to explore yet expected to perform, whether it is fun
or not.