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Sand
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21 Jun 2009, 10:37 am

This is an interesting viewpoint.

http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf



sartresue
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21 Jun 2009, 11:14 am

Pretty darned frigged topic

My computer does not handle downloading PDF files well. Nasty things happen. If there was an HTML version, I would read it.


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ruveyn
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21 Jun 2009, 12:12 pm

Sand wrote:
This is an interesting viewpoint.

http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf


That is an excellent article.

Many youngsters miss the mathematical adventure because of bad pedagogy.

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21 Jun 2009, 12:47 pm

Quote:
The first thing to understand is that mathematics is an art.


Oh my goodness, this is exactly what I told one of my sisters once. She, being a visual and literary artist, claimed that I was oh so very wrong, since math is so different from the visual, performing, or auditory arts that my sisters excel in.

I'm on page six right now, and I love it. I think the idea is amazing.


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21 Jun 2009, 1:18 pm

Absolutely brilliant article. :D Thanks for the link.

Almost makes me think my almost ten year old son shouldn't try school this coming year after all. We have just registered him at the local middle school after 4 years of homeschooling, because the laws on homeschooling got stricter this year ( now have to cover exactly the same material, all of it, as would if were in school ), and we were having trouble just fulfilling the previous requirements. ... We decided that he'd better try it, for a term at least, because neither he nor I are willing to up-sticks, leave his french papa, and move to somewhere like Morocco in order to avoid the horrors of school, until we know for sure how bad it is. :? :( (Because it's not just mathematics school does this to/with! ).
.



ruveyn
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21 Jun 2009, 5:21 pm

sartresue wrote:
Pretty darned frigged topic

My computer does not handle downloading PDF files well. Nasty things happen. If there was an HTML version, I would read it.


What is your operating system?

If you are running Windows you should be able to down load Adobe Reader 8 and have fun reading pdf files.

ruveyn



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21 Jun 2009, 6:48 pm

I was critical at first, but now I realize the author of the article is right.

There is really a mythical perception of mathematics. For instance, in Sweden some have proposed to lower the requirements of getting into an engineering school has been lowered, claiming that courses which have some very complicated, but somewhat useless, mathematics should be optional. And why not? It has few practical implications.

Leave real math to real mathematicians, I say.


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Fuzzy
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21 Jun 2009, 8:59 pm

Thanks for finding this Sand. Its an awesome read.


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pandabear
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21 Jun 2009, 9:41 pm

Thanks! That article made my day!



NobelCynic
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21 Jun 2009, 10:48 pm

sartresue wrote:
My computer does not handle downloading PDF files well. Nasty things happen. If there was an HTML version, I would read it.


It's available at Amazon if you're interested.


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Orwell
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21 Jun 2009, 11:29 pm

Excellent paper, thanks for posting.


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sartresue
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22 Jun 2009, 12:04 pm

NobelCynic wrote:
sartresue wrote:
My computer does not handle downloading PDF files well. Nasty things happen. If there was an HTML version, I would read it.


It's available at Amazon if you're interested.


Understanding Mathematics topic

thanks, NobelCynic. I am going to get my library to invest in this worthy read.

Ruveyn: My computer does not have enough working memory. Some time ago, in order to prolong the hard drive, I had to get a quick fix which reduced the memory. In effect my computer has either ADD or suffers from a form of dementia. No money to replace it at present.


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22 Jun 2009, 5:42 pm

I don't think it's mathematics as such, I think it applies to education in general - at least as it was in my day. You were expected to sit in the classroom learning for years without doing, then after that are expected to go out in the workplace and do without learning. Yeah, you want to learn at the workplace but they want you to do what you already know.

What you really want is a mix so you can learn, then quickly apply the things you have learned to the level that you become proficient, then learn more and repeat the process forever.

For mathematics though I thought it went the other way. In school I liked it but when it got to university much of it got to be "theorem, proof, theorem, proof...". Particularly my 2nd year at university was like that. And they thought a consequence was an example.

I've forgotten large amounts of what I learnt in my Maths degree through failure to ever apply it.



Sand
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22 Jun 2009, 10:09 pm

EarlPurple wrote:
I don't think it's mathematics as such, I think it applies to education in general - at least as it was in my day. You were expected to sit in the classroom learning for years without doing, then after that are expected to go out in the workplace and do without learning. Yeah, you want to learn at the workplace but they want you to do what you already know.

What you really want is a mix so you can learn, then quickly apply the things you have learned to the level that you become proficient, then learn more and repeat the process forever.

For mathematics though I thought it went the other way. In school I liked it but when it got to university much of it got to be "theorem, proof, theorem, proof...". Particularly my 2nd year at university was like that. And they thought a consequence was an example.

I've forgotten large amounts of what I learnt in my Maths degree through failure to ever apply it.


Although I agree with the basic attitude of the article it concentrates basically on the fascination with mathematics as an interplay of creative concepts and the marvelous consistencies that evolve from understanding the basic consequences of accepting them.

Applied mathematics is a separate field and science and technology require a familiarity with many of the mathematical concepts and how they fit into reality so that each application could be profitably augmented with a basic understanding of its mathematical foundation but this is not always a necessity. It is, nevertheless, useful to be comfortable with creative mathematical thinking.



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22 Jun 2009, 11:02 pm

A lot of the article reminds me of Sheldon Cooper :lol: :lol: :lol:



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23 Jun 2009, 1:23 am

Heh...I was one of the first to be stuck with 'new Math'. The whole system was based on 'how many different ways can you solve this problem?' Drove me crazy. I wound up considering math as arbitrary and capricious, which that should be the opposite of what it is.

After looking over the way I actually solve problems, it's backwards. At least I don't seem to be as alone...;)