see article Video: In CA schools, 3 X 4 = 11
August 20, 2013
By John Seiler
Back in the early 1990s, California schools adopted “New New Math” and “Whole Language” to dumb down the kids. Parents revolted. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the state reformed the curriculum and adopted some decent standards.
But in California, no bad idea stays down for long. This time, it’s adopting President Obama’s Common Core, which brings back “conceptual math” from the New New Math. Instead of just learning the multiplication tables by rote, which people have been doing for centuries, students instead are instructed to “think through” the answer, and that there really is no wrong answer. So, the answer to 3 X 4 can be 11. Really.
There’s a trick involved here. Of course, it’s good to teach kids about concepts. Until the Deweyite reforms of a century ago, students learned critical thinking as a separate subject. That was dumped in John Dewey’s earlier dumbing down. But critical thinking of the real type isn’t involved here, only muddy thinking.
Here’s a YouTube that explains the Common Core approach to math. It’s serious. As the teacher says, “The emphasis is more toward the explanation.”
You could take it two ways I think. Depends what you read into her discussion. Years ago at UC Davis a friend of mine lamented that his girl friend only wanted to memorize information to pass biochem tests. He felt it was critical to learn the underlying concepts to properly understand the subject.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good website. Lots of information on Plan Bay Area and all the trouble it has created. I check most every day to see what has been posted. Marincello all over again.
Thanks for the feedback. My kid who is also a biochem major is obsessed with both memorization and concepts to help grasp total understanding.
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