Newer New Math

Discussion in 'Education' started by longknife, Oct 6, 2014.

  1. longknife

    longknife New Member

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    Subtracting one number from another is now “The Granny Method?” Hunh?

    Common Core now wants our kids to learn “Counting-Up Subtraction Method”.

    This method of subtracting actually uses addition. For example, like the example given in the book, subtracting 38 from 325 can be derived by counting up. Raise 38 to 40, by going up 2. Raise 40 to 100 by going up 60. Raise 100 to 300 by going up 200. Raise 300 to 325 by going up 25. Then add the jumps together so that 2 + 60 + 200 + 25 = 287. That would be the answer.

    Is this system supposed to turn off our kids to math? Or simply befuddle their minds? It certainly makes no sense to me.

    Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/10/03/newer_new_math_124176.html#ixzz3FNBTrP8J
     
  2. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    That's only one of a few ways that particular book taught the same problem. Believe it or not, for some people that's easier.

    Personally, I'd do the 325-38 as (325-25) - (38-25) which becomes 300-13=287 (if I were doing it in my head)
     
  3. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    I coached kids for 25 yrs and in my licensing process I learned we don't all comprehend problems the same way so you approach teaching problems from different angles...
     
  4. Battle3

    Battle3 Well-Known Member

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    Common Core is total BS.

    In todays education process, children are allowed to use calculators, don't memorize multiplication tables or basic constants like pi or simple equations, don't learn how to calculate a square root or logarithm by hand, they don't even do problems by hand.

    Yes, its a lot of work learning and memorizing and working by hand, but in going down that road a student gains familiarity and insight into numbers and mathematics. Students gain an intuitive sense regarding mathematics. The USA isn't going to have many good mathematicians and engineers and scientists when this crop of "students" graduate. You cannot discover new ideas when you are tied to a calculator.
     
  5. MarkHelms

    MarkHelms New Member

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    I was not much interested in maths ever. But this is a really great way to get results only by adding numbers for getting the subtraction result. Nice idea. Spatially helpful for kids who think the addition is easier the subtraction.
     
  6. Clan_Of_Wroth

    Clan_Of_Wroth New Member

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    We all process differently. The problem I have with education is hoping a "one size fits all" model works. I think teachers can really teach up to 10 students effectively at a time. I don't mean scrawl out notes for them I mean have good in depth discussions and exploration. As you said when coaching they don't make you coach 25 kids at a time yes some times you address the whole team if it is large but usually you split them up to smaller teams or groups so you can reach multiple people at once but not miss some along the way.
     
  7. Brett Nortje

    Brett Nortje Well-Known Member

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    Have any of you heard of model c maths? it was an experiment at my school. i cannot do multiplication and division as quickly, but can work out nearly any sort of basic equation at a modest pace and can multiply much further than you can! so there!
     
  8. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    yup...team size was normally 16-18 and even that could be too many for one coach to handle effectively, they all have different problems that need to be addressed in different manners...the ideal situation was two coaches for 16-18 players which fits in with your 10 students ideal, that provides more time for better analysis of the technical difficulties of each individual...
     
  9. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    And that occurred before Common Core as well.
    It's silly to memorize pi and simple equations when you can look them up. I am almost 50 years old, and I can't recall ever doing a logarithm by hand (did a square root), and I've had math up to a year of college calculus. When I took physics in 1985, our professor allowed us to bring in an index card of the equations we needed.

    I do agree that is needed, but I don't agree that calculators are bad. They are a necessity in high school chemistry and physics classes.
     
  10. NightSwimmer

    NightSwimmer New Member

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    I support the Common Core initiative, in spite of the fact that you do not understand it. The intention is to teach thinking, rather than rote repetition of facts. The other benefit of Common Core is to facilitate a smooth transition for children whose parents relocate, by establishing a standardized curriculum among the various public school systems.

    Your likely GOP Presidential nominee is also a strong supporter of Common Core. You'll come around, once you're told to.
     
  11. longknife

    longknife New Member

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    I wish I'd kept the link but there's a video floating around of a 13-year-old who laid it to her school board about just how back she thought Common Core was and how she begged her mother to opt her out of it.
     
  12. Conservative65

    Conservative65 Banned

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    It's no wonder kids today can't make change unless the digital readout on the register tells them how much.
     
  13. NightSwimmer

    NightSwimmer New Member

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    Many 13 year old children disagree with those in positions of authority. I wouldn't think that many folks would need a YouTube video to grasp that concept.
     
  14. Battle3

    Battle3 Well-Known Member

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    When I was in elementary school, we were expected to learn the multiplication tables from 1X1 to 100X100, taught how to take a square root, and taught to approximate answers and then refine the approximation. I took up to calculus in high school, all with no calculator. I learned to use a slide rule in high school, which requires much more knowledge of math to use than a calculator.

    What do you think everyone used before calculators? They used their brains and a deep understanding of mathematics which allowed them an intuitive sense of numbers and equations. The cashier at any store had a better mathematical ability than kids (and most adults) today.

    Calculators and looking up equations have their place but should augment a persons ability. Instead, calculators are a crutch which appear to make learning better but actually stifle intelligence.
     
  15. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    And in Ancient times, it was probably claimed that this new-fangled writing would ruin people's memories and stifle their intelligence.......... I'm all for memorizing the times tables, etc. at least up to 12x12 (beyond that, IMHO should be calculated). Looking up equations just makes sense. If something is used, it will be memorized. It's pretty much automatic. If something isn't used often, then why should it be memorized?
     
  16. Battle3

    Battle3 Well-Known Member

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    Read my post again. I am not against calculators and computers, I am against using them as a crutch or to bypass actual learning, or using them out of laziness.

    I work in a very technical field requiring a high level of mathematics skill. I've seen young engineers trying to solve a problem for days, looking through the CRC, then asking another guy who immediately recognizes the form of the equation and the solution. One guy doesn't learn the forms and wastes time trying to reinvent the wheel, another guy knows whats been done and can move directly to the new stuff.

    I've also seen younger engineers pull up MATLAB to solve simple numerical problems that older guys just immediately solve in their heads. A guy is trying to bound the solution to a problem and has to spend 20 minutes plotting and calculating individual points in MATLAB, the older guy just approximates the solutions in his head and draws the boundary in 2 minutes, sees the approach the other guy is taking wont work, and moves to a new approach.

    Highly educated people are addicted to calculators and computers and the CRC and Altas of Functions. Instead of spending the time to learn equations and relationships once, they repeatedly waste time looking through the books and typing on the calculator, and missing relationships which are obvious to people who took the time to learn and build an intuitive affinity with mathematics.

    Yes memorizing and solving problems by hand is hard work. Had work is the price you pay to be very good at something.
     

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