Social discussion of CS in K-12

["Smith, Kathleen Rapp" <smithka AT illinois.edu>]

For me, a retired math teacher of 40+ years who has a deep and abiding love of mathematics, this is the most telling paragraph in the article:

I found Hacker overall to be pretty convincing. But after finishing The Math Myth, I kept thinking back to how my husband talked about derivatives, how he helped me connect the abstract to the concrete. As a longtime education reporter, I know that American teachers, especially those in the elementary grades, have taken few math courses themselves, and often actively dislike the subject. Maybe I would have found abstract math more enjoyable if my teachers had been able to explain it better, perhaps by connecting it somehow to the real world. And if that happened in every school, maybe lots more American kids, even low-income ones, would be able to make the leap from arithmetic to the conceptual mathematics of algebra II and beyond.

I agree Algebra II should not be the door slammer it is, but the answer lies with the teacher and not the mathematics. 

Kathleen


Mathematics is the Language of the Universe.

Kathleen R. Smith
University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign
Department of Mathematics, Retired
217 687-2889

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From: ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu [ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu] on behalf of Reese, George Clifford [reese AT illinois.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2016 8:45 AM
To: sacrophyte AT gmail.com; ctrl-shift AT lists.mste.illinois.edu
Subject: Re: [Ctrl-Shift] Looking for a professional opinion: "Down with Algebra II"

This one is really making the rounds quickly. As did Hacker’s NYTimes editorial of a few years ago.

Peter Braunfeld, who I’m told is cited in Hacker’s book (I’m getting a copy), did a talk on Hacker’s editorial a couple years ago for us at MSTE.

https://goo.gl/oSA147

 

My own opinion is that a thoughtful reconsideration of the entire high school mathematics sequence is required.
Algebra, Statistics, and Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics makes much more sense for most students than the current sequence which is mostly a preparation for calculus that few people need to be productive, mathematically literate citizens.

 

George

 

From: ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu [mailto:ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu] On Behalf Of Charles Schultz
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2016 8:08 AM
To: ctrl-shift AT lists.mste.illinois.edu
Subject: [Ctrl-Shift] Looking for a professional opinion: "Down with Algebra II"

 

Good morning,

 

I am hoping to solicit professional opinions from practioners, educators and researchers. Having climbed (and struggled) through 4 years of college math classes that I have never ever used at all, what are the pros and cons of replacing the theory-heavy math classes with something a bit more practical, with an eye towards training democratic (lower case 'd') citizens?

 

re: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2016/03/algebra_ii_has_to_go.single.html

 

The author of the article, Dana Goldstein, is speaking mostly about Andrew Hacker's "The Math Myth", but also balances it out with a couple other opinions/theories as well. The ideas put forth by Ms. Goldstein resonated with my own experiences, so I am seeking other perspectives.

 

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Charles Schultz