On Mar 19, 6:53=A0pm, "Jerry Beeler" <jerrybee...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Dom" <DR...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
>
news:a7174a22-3d26-4ca6-bb7a-3c3255e89d88@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> >http://mathgateway.maa.org/do/ViewMathNews?id=3D275
>
> > New Mathematics Textbook is Drawing Ire
> > March 6, 2008
>
> > A mathematics textbook series has angered parents and elementary
> > school teachers who say its methods fail to help children master basic
> > math skills. But educators say it helps younger students learn
> > mathematics in preparation for learning algebra.
> > ...
>
> I watched the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DTr1qee-bTZI
>
> My God. =A0A complete dependence on calculators.
>
> Idiots.
>
> At the end of the video there was a comment to the effect that some
colleg=
e
> students couldn't multiply 4 times 6 without a calculator. =A0My first
> question would be how in the Hell did he/she even get into college
and/or
> what kind of college was this.
>
> Beside the point ... been there seen that. =A0I was tutoring a student
tha=
t
> was taking Algebra II - during a solution I watched him use a calculator
t=
o
> multiply 4 times 0 ... somewhat astonished I asked him "did you do what
I
> think you just did?" ... he very nonchalantly replied "yes, I was just
> checking myself".
>
> Want more? =A0I tutored a student from a Catholic school - 7th through
8th=
> grade. =A0I was really impressed. =A0You could ask him to add 3/8 + 2/3
+7=
/9 and
> he would dive right in and come up with the correct answer. =A0His
parents=
> couldn't afford to continue in Catholic school so they sent him to a
publi=
c
> school for the 9th through 12th grade - I continued to tutor him. =A0The
> school that he attended taught a complete dependency on calculators.
=A0If=
you
> wanted to know the decimal equivalent of 3/4 you use a calculator - if
you=
> want to know the decimal equivalent of 1/2 ... use a calculator.
>
> Before long (less than a year) his math skills dwindled to an
astronomical=
> low .. he had in fact developed a *complete* dependency on the
calculator.=
> I continued to do what I could (as his tutor) but it was to no avail -
the=
> teacher insisted he use a calculator for EVERYTHING. =A0Believe it or
not,=
> about 1/2 way through the 10th grade I asked him to add 3/4 and 5/8 by
han=
d
> .. couldn't do it without help.
>
> Can a student graduate from high school not knowing how to multiply 6
time=
s
> 4? =A0Sure can. =A0Can this same student graduate (or even enter)
college =
not
> knowing how to multiply 6 times 4 ... ?
>
> Jerry
Jerry, Thank you very much for providing such priceless, disinterested
examples of the grim results of:
1. mathematical power
2. world-class education
3. 21st-century mathematics
4. using technology to solve real-world problems
All of which have been promoted extensively by pseudo-educators for
several decades!
Dom
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