How a child math prodigy sees numbers as shapes

[LearnedCoward]

@ActionAbe

A little algebra, statistical awareness at the level of Darrell Huff’s famous book, and some basic problem solving skills is what I want the bulk of the population to have.

A lot of people don’t even have that. I’m not advocating that everybody is supposed to know Partial DiffEq or Modern Algebra or anything like that, just a basic understanding of probability/statistics and algebra. I’ve known so many people who tell me that they loved math until that damn X got thrown in there, and I’ve known a shocking number of adults who thought 1/3 is bigger than 1/2 or 0.05 cents is the same as $0.05. There’s a difference between being not interested or able to do higher maths (beyond Linear Algebra and DiffEq) and being numerically illiterate.

@ActionAbe

I’m not a “geography person” but we don’t have this weird expectation that everyone love geography and if the majority of humanity doesn’t like geography it’s being taught wrong

Geography is taught wrong, as are most subjects. I was taught geography like “here’s a list of rivers in Asia, come back when you’ve memorized them”. We were never taught why it matters, why geography and natural resources shape cultures, etc. The same is true for math, and pretty much every other subject. The emphasis is on rote memorization, or at least it was for me. Teaching to the test increases this emphasis on memorizing random crap, which is a shame, because discovering how things fit together is magical for me.

As far as insisting people love or even like a subject, that’s just something I can’t do and don’t want to do. All I expect is a little understanding of how things work and what they mean. Like, understanding that there’s an X percent chance of Y happening doesn’t mean OMG TEH SKY IS FALLING111!1!! and understanding that politics in Venezuela is different than politics in New Jersey.

@ActionAbe

All my life I’ve been told math is taught wrong, but I find that most people don’t have a clear idea of what “right” looks like.

Teach the how and why instead of just the what. The same goes for all subjects. It will encourage less spoon-feeding and more critical thinking.

@ActionAbe

There’s a lot to unpack about math education that I’m frankly not qualified to. Most people aren’t. I find it interesting that teachers go to school to be teachers but everyone and their brother knows what’s wrong with schools from personal experience. But, I’m not impressed with most ideas about “teaching differently” that I hear from laypeople. Teachers do work, constantly, using evidence-based study to improve pedagogy. The way we teach math has changed in my lifetime but no one notices.

I understand that. I’m sure a lot of the problems I’ve had with public primary education have been fixed by now, and I didn’t notice the changes because they were after my time. Maybe they were changing before or during my time as well, but only in the rich-kid school districts or in the more progressive private schools. Stopping teaching to the test is hardly an unpopular opinion even in education, and it’s hardly revolutionary, and it’s about to get better soon.