math in school

what is going on with "NEW MATH"?


why is this being taught


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6ERmnOQCcI

Idiots. The problem with our system. They are supposed to actually teach you things you need to know in life. Then teach this. Then there is the Shawnee Mission middle schooler who made a gun symbol with her thumb and finger. She was taken outside, handcuffed and charged with a felony.

I didn't watch the video but my understanding is common core math teaches the why as well as the how.

All us old people know how to do it but not why it works & that's great for test questions but sucks for real-world application. That's why so many of our math-heavy occupations are being filled by foreign students who have the understanding our local schools failed to teach because we focused on teaching for the test instead of of actual learning.

watch the video and see the way math is beng taught now takes 10x as long to do math problems then the way boomers were taught
why teach that way? teach like other countries teach, so we dont fall behind more

Idiots. The problem with our system. They are supposed to actually teach you things you need to know in life. Then teach this. Then there is the Shawnee Mission middle schooler who made a gun symbol with her thumb and finger. She was taken outside, handcuffed and charged with a felony. Originally Posted by TailHooked

I wish I knew how to buy a house, do taxes or how to handle money

I watched the video.

The "Asian" way is how I learned in school a looong time ago... so not really Asian. I know how to do it but not why it works and that's probably why I quit math class and am not an engineer or something.

If you want to learn how to do taxes or handle money you should take accounting classes. Grade school multiplication like problem in the video won't be enough to understand taxes regardless of how you solve it.

watch the video and see the way math is beng taught now takes 10x as long to do math problems then the way boomers were taught
why teach that way? teach like other countries teach, so we dont fall behind more Originally Posted by timmystool

other countries DO teach this way; the U.S. not using these methods for years is why we're currently falling behind.

other countries DO teach this way; the U.S. not using these methods for years is why we're currently falling behind. Originally Posted by lawrenceks

not really tho
we arent falling behind, we are behind, and doing nothing to catch up

I watched the video.

The "Asian" way is how I learned in school a looong time ago... so not really Asian. I know how to do it but not why it works and that's probably why I quit math class and am not an engineer or something.

If you want to learn how to do taxes or handle money you should take accounting classes. Grade school multiplication like problem in the video won't be enough to understand taxes regardless of how you solve it. Originally Posted by Best_peter

sure ya did
and other countries arent better at math cause they can do american tasxes ???
wtf r u talking about?


why would they?
it takes much longer to do the work

No one does addition like that in every day real life. But learning it in school that way does give a deeper understanding of math. This is just one addition example that seems tedious, but there is way more to it. It is a learning process that has to be delivered step by step. Most parents look at it and are totally confused because they haven't gone through the process from start to finish. It will take a generation for this to come full circle.

I remember in college being taught how to find derivatives in calculus and you would fill an entire sheet of paper per problem. The next week the guy in charge of the class said "But mathematicians are inherently lazy" and he proceeded to show us how to do it just by looking at it and writing the answer down with zero solving on paper. I couldn't for the life of me remember how we worked it out on that full sheet of paper but I think I can still do the other way almost 30 years later.

The difference is doing things by definition or working things out as you would naturally in your head at this point. There's a purpose to this method of teaching math but if they stop at this and don't continue it to a natural logical thinking that you do in your head, or the Asian way, or the boomer way or whatever you want to call it then it's a problem and I see that a lot with the kids I see. I tutor math as a side job and it's amazing the things kids are unable to do because they haven't been taught the connection between the why and the how, you need a solid understanding of each.

Probably just the calculator way...

All I can say is this is not efficient. I am and always have been business oriented. Not that corners need to be cut everywhere, there is no substitution for quality. What everything boils down to is repetition. You find a quick way to get to point A, without losing quality. The old way does that. When you keep things simple, more people can do the work. It reminds me of the space program. American scientists spent a million dollars then, to design a pen to write in space. The Russians used a lead pencil.

I watched the video.

The "Asian" way is how I learned in school a looong time ago... so not really Asian. I know how to do it but not why it works and that's probably why I quit math class and am not an engineer or something.

If you want to learn how to do taxes or handle money you should take accounting classes. Grade school multiplication like problem in the video won't be enough to understand taxes regardless of how you solve it. Originally Posted by Best_peter

I'm no good at math but can do taxes and I can manage money well. I could turn cole to a diamond when I have to but don't ask me how to calculate the square root of anything.