Why America Needs to Step It Up in its Education System
If you're reading this, you are likely to be a person that doesn't use your free time on math at all, right? Yeah. In fact, you probably hate math. You probably think it is boring, nerve-wracking, and yeah. You get the idea. In fact, 4 in 10 adults actually say they HATE math. But why? And why is math more popular in other countries. Well, it's the way the US teaches math. Everything traces back to the root of education.
The US teaching system for math is usually something like this. (Drop a +1 on this post if you've experienced something like this.) It works something like I do, We do, and then You do. The first day, the "I do" lesson, is where the teacher teaches. Let's say the class is learning long division. The teacher might use an example like this: 2581/29. And then he/she'll say something like: "First, we see if 2 can divide into 29. Of course not." If you can see here, the teacher has completely said something false, 2 can be divided into 29, just not as an integer. And then: "However, 258 can. 258 divided by 29 is 8, with 26 extras. So then you put the six aside and add it to the one that was leftover." (Okay, I have to pause here and say that I am NOT making fun or criticizing the American education system, I am expressing my opinion and improvements that could be made.) Okay, so now the students know how to do 2581/29. Now the We do day. They do another long division problem together, and the teacher explains it to them, while the students help. And the You do day. The students in the classroom are furiously scribbling their pencils, working their way through worksheets. But they're not really paying attention to a. Why does this method work? b. Why am I doing this? and more specifically c. Why do I need to do this? and also d. When will I ever use this in life? We need to teach more real-life situations. Sometime in high school you'll likely (or have already) sit in a class and compute a list of definite integrals. If you ask the teacher: "When will this be useful in life?", you'll get something like: "Well, you may not realize it now, but in some fields later on, it will be very important to calculate definite integrals quickly and accurately by hand." This answer is unsatisfying because both the teacher and the student know it's a lie. Teachers who do this should teach more abstractly and more broadly. This integrates student thinking processes. Also, this I do, We do, and You do is an extremely UN efficient way to teach. I am willing to bet that millions of children sitting in a class learning long division already know this stuff, and that's something else about US's education system.
The US education system separates students into classes by age, NOT intellect levels. Now, I am not saying that the classes should be separated by intellect levels because a lot of the students would not be mature enough and ready for other events and consequences. But if a student is in 4th grade but has the brain of a 7th grader, and is maturely capable and willing to go to 7th grade and his/her parents consent, why can't he/she? Why does he/she have to go to school every day, knowing he/she 'll have to things he/she has learned years ago? Another idea would be to still separate by age groups, but after that, instead of randomly putting students in classes, we sort them by intellect level (maybe take a few tests).
And now, time for a stats break. Nearly 50% of high school and college students fail math. That's right, nearly 1 in 2 people! Come on. We can do better than this.
Finally, Americans underestimate child abilities. I personally think multiplication and division should be taught before or in 2nd grade. People say that well, some things are just too hard. Well, yeah, because we're teaching addition in 2nd grade right now, of course multiplication seems too far away. But if we taught more efficiently, this could easily happen. It would also relieve the boredom in math class of many children. In the US, Algebra 1 is not taught until 9th grade, but I know tons of people who had a solid understanding of Algebra 1 before 4th grade. Algebra 2 is not taught until 10th, 11th, or 12th grade. I think it could be taught in 5th or 6th grade. The reason that the stuff (sorry, can't think of less vague term to use) that is known as hard is "hard" is because we think of it that way. Sure, we need to learn foundations first, like the basic operations. Really, nothing is that easy in math. And it's not supposed to be. Math is the art of complexity.
The US teaching system for math is usually something like this. (Drop a +1 on this post if you've experienced something like this.) It works something like I do, We do, and then You do. The first day, the "I do" lesson, is where the teacher teaches. Let's say the class is learning long division. The teacher might use an example like this: 2581/29. And then he/she'll say something like: "First, we see if 2 can divide into 29. Of course not." If you can see here, the teacher has completely said something false, 2 can be divided into 29, just not as an integer. And then: "However, 258 can. 258 divided by 29 is 8, with 26 extras. So then you put the six aside and add it to the one that was leftover." (Okay, I have to pause here and say that I am NOT making fun or criticizing the American education system, I am expressing my opinion and improvements that could be made.) Okay, so now the students know how to do 2581/29. Now the We do day. They do another long division problem together, and the teacher explains it to them, while the students help. And the You do day. The students in the classroom are furiously scribbling their pencils, working their way through worksheets. But they're not really paying attention to a. Why does this method work? b. Why am I doing this? and more specifically c. Why do I need to do this? and also d. When will I ever use this in life? We need to teach more real-life situations. Sometime in high school you'll likely (or have already) sit in a class and compute a list of definite integrals. If you ask the teacher: "When will this be useful in life?", you'll get something like: "Well, you may not realize it now, but in some fields later on, it will be very important to calculate definite integrals quickly and accurately by hand." This answer is unsatisfying because both the teacher and the student know it's a lie. Teachers who do this should teach more abstractly and more broadly. This integrates student thinking processes. Also, this I do, We do, and You do is an extremely UN efficient way to teach. I am willing to bet that millions of children sitting in a class learning long division already know this stuff, and that's something else about US's education system.
The US education system separates students into classes by age, NOT intellect levels. Now, I am not saying that the classes should be separated by intellect levels because a lot of the students would not be mature enough and ready for other events and consequences. But if a student is in 4th grade but has the brain of a 7th grader, and is maturely capable and willing to go to 7th grade and his/her parents consent, why can't he/she? Why does he/she have to go to school every day, knowing he/she 'll have to things he/she has learned years ago? Another idea would be to still separate by age groups, but after that, instead of randomly putting students in classes, we sort them by intellect level (maybe take a few tests).
And now, time for a stats break. Nearly 50% of high school and college students fail math. That's right, nearly 1 in 2 people! Come on. We can do better than this.
Finally, Americans underestimate child abilities. I personally think multiplication and division should be taught before or in 2nd grade. People say that well, some things are just too hard. Well, yeah, because we're teaching addition in 2nd grade right now, of course multiplication seems too far away. But if we taught more efficiently, this could easily happen. It would also relieve the boredom in math class of many children. In the US, Algebra 1 is not taught until 9th grade, but I know tons of people who had a solid understanding of Algebra 1 before 4th grade. Algebra 2 is not taught until 10th, 11th, or 12th grade. I think it could be taught in 5th or 6th grade. The reason that the stuff (sorry, can't think of less vague term to use) that is known as hard is "hard" is because we think of it that way. Sure, we need to learn foundations first, like the basic operations. Really, nothing is that easy in math. And it's not supposed to be. Math is the art of complexity.
Everyone, I am getting close to my 10th post and I want to do something special! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please comment below. Thanks - Owen
ReplyDeleteAnd do you mean you?
ReplyDeleteand how do you +1?
ReplyDeleteTo +1, click on the sideways v above, click on the Google + choice. Then press post if you don't want to leave a comment, and if you do, write your comment then press post.
ReplyDeleteWait is it like an upvote
ReplyDeleteSomewhat.
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