It's not really easy to find, but I think if they had this in more children's math classes it would make a huge difference in ability. I've always felt kids don't understand equations.
Posted on 08/10/2010 10:13:25 AM PDT by decimon
Gosh, ya think? The textbooks and other aspect of math instruction. "Equals" is not a difficult concept unless it is systematically obfuscated.
I believe this.
When I was about four as a child I had a toy that consisted of a scale with numbers you hung on either side. When the numbers were equal the scale balanced.
It’s such a simple concept but strangely, I see students don’t think that way. I understood algebra immediately because of that toy.
I’m thinking that in this country where “equal” opportunity means affirmative action quotas, “equal” access means half the parking spaces in front of every store is handicapped only and “equal” rights means only one side can throw a race card, then it’s no wonder our kids are confused as to what “equal” means.
I suspect the problem is something to do with “minds full of mush”, taught by “minds full of mush”. What possible difference could textbooks make to people that never learn to read?
probably because the US text books are full of crap about Susies two mommies and other PC crap and hardly anything about math.
Understanding the equal sign is absolutely necessary not only for Math but for basic programing also. It also goes into other sciences like physics and anything where algebra is necessary. Sad day when people don’t understand that.
It's not really easy to find, but I think if they had this in more children's math classes it would make a huge difference in ability. I've always felt kids don't understand equations.
Math books are a joke. They are full of cutesy color (expensive) photographs and politicially correct biographies to stimulate multiculturalism and seemngly to downplay the dead white male European idea of one correct answer in mathematics.
Besides, we can’t have a mathematically-literate populace because they could never buy Nancy Pelosi’s argument that taking money from one sector of the population to give it to another sector creates jobs. Ignorance is bliss, don’cha know?
What will they come up with next for EXCUSES in shoddy TEACHING and shoddy MATH BOOKS?
“This response has been called a running equal sign—similar to how a calculator might work when the numbers and equal sign are entered as they appear in the sentence,” he explains. “However, this understanding is incorrect. The correct solution makes both sides equal. So the understanding should be 4+3+2=(7)+2. Now both sides of the equal sign equal 9.”
Restated:
4+3+2 = (7)+ 2
9=9
What’s the big deal? Am I missing something?
People are NOT calculators.
I believe they are purposely CONFUSING students so they don’t KNOW anything. This will make parents MORE dependent on them and they’ll get MORE money.
This may be the crux of the problem. Students today rely on the calculator and have far less ability to "think" through arithmetical calculations than those of us who are older. We learned before calculators. Today, it's reach for a calculator first.
Place a formula such as 4+3+2=( )+2 before today's student, and I'd bet money more would reach for their calculator than would figure it out mentally.
“One cause of the problem might be the textbooks, the research shows. “
Yes, it is the **itty textbooks and **itty teachers that are literally dumbing down kids.
Memorizing what an “=” sign means and how it is APPLIED in Math is not rocket science.
Exactly.
this is stupid! why would a student assume the equal sign to be a running equal sign in this problem? there is only one equal sign in the problem... it’s obvious that the solution is to make both sides of the equal sign, um... equal! we homeschool... my oldest son as been doing math all my himself (with tools we provide him) for the last 2-3 years... he gets it...
This would explain why Obama and Pelosi believe government spending creates jobs. They still don’t understand that every dollar flowing through the Treasury is a dollar that otherwise would have flowed through the private sector. Unless the government is more efficient than the private sector at creating jobs, $1 billion in government spending can’t/won’t create any more jobs than the equivalent amount in the private sector.
Of course, if the government really were more efficient, communism would have worked like a charm.
Likewise, if the First Couple really understood the concept of “equal” they wouldn’t keep acting as if they are more equal than everyone else.
Oh right lets blame those nasty textbooks that wrote themselves. None of the untouchable bimbos in the ivory towers should be held accountable. In fact there was no math problem (ie education problem) until ‘those who are smarter than the rest of us’ took control of education and the sciences. Consider that recent past generations sent men to the moon, created modern computers etc. Many of today’s ‘graduates’ can hardly read or do simple maths. Right, its the text books alright.... :/
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
she forgot what the “equal” sign means!
My boss had a 4th grade daughter come home with a math worksheet that had several problems marked wrong. One was 9 x 9 = __
She had entered “81” and it was marked wrong. When my boss called the teacher to ask why, he was stunned when the teacher explained that they were learning to estimate and the since 9 was close to 10, the correct answer was “100”.
I think the problem isn’t that students don’t know what the equal sign means, but rather the teachers don’t.
The only thing about the Equal sign that today's students need to know is which one is preferred by their customers as they wait on them in their minimum wage jobs.
-PJ
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