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Do old fashioned arithmetic algorithms really need to be taught any more?

Posted on 12/18/2011 10:06:54 AM PST by no gnu taxes

I'm talking about the old multiplication and long division calculation methods. I know what you are probably thinking. That I am some public school advocate, even though I was pissed as hell when my kindergarten daughter asked me if I knew the happy kwanzaa song.

But are these really useful anymore? I mean you can buy a calculator for $1 that does all these things and the software developers didn't use those methods for creation of the devices. Did you even understand why these algorithms worked at the time you were taught them?

Not trying to be controversial; just want to know what you think.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: emp; feminism; iran; nuclear; solar; stringtheory
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To: no gnu taxes

It would be nice if somebody knew what division was..
The only way to know that is knowing how to do it..

Then you have your basic ignorance of Calculus..
and even Trigonometry.. Americans are dumber than rocks..

People that flunk out of math tend to go into Law and journalism..


61 posted on 12/18/2011 11:32:25 AM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole...)
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To: 21stCenturion

...


62 posted on 12/18/2011 11:52:30 AM PST by 21stCenturion ("It's the Judges, Stupid !")
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To: dfwgator

We had to show our work as a means of showing that we actually knew how to do the math.

A correct answer wasn’t enough.


63 posted on 12/18/2011 11:52:50 AM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: no gnu taxes

I teach physics and chemistry at a private college prep school.

The BIGGEST problem I have is teaching kids the concept of a REASONABLE ANSWER.

Some of them don’t KNOW, (have not memorized) basic math facts...so they just write down what “the calculator” says, even when it’s a stupid answer.


64 posted on 12/18/2011 11:55:24 AM PST by Mrs.Z
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To: BfloGuy

Latin is the language of science and medicine.

I didn’t take latin but picked up a considerable bit through my interest in science. Those latin root words come in real handy.


65 posted on 12/18/2011 11:58:46 AM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: hosepipe
People that flunk out of math tend to go into Law and journalism..

I think it would be a good idea if high school guidance counselors would talk to students in their freshman and sophomore years and ask them about what subjects they were having difficulty with, and then take corrective action based on that information, to help prevent these students from ending up with "second choice" or "third choice" majors in college or graduate school.

66 posted on 12/18/2011 11:59:00 AM PST by thecodont
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To: no gnu taxes

IMHO, just the process of learning the +, -, * and / tables and seeing the relationships, instills self discipline, something, again IMHO, that is sorely lacking.


67 posted on 12/18/2011 11:59:51 AM PST by upchuck (Let's have the Revolution NOW before we get dumbed down to the point that we can't.)
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To: no gnu taxes

I for one would like to hail our new ‘calculator’ overlords......


68 posted on 12/18/2011 12:07:04 PM PST by gilor (Pull the wool over your own eyes!)
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To: no gnu taxes

I for one would like to hail our new ‘calculator’ overlords......


69 posted on 12/18/2011 12:07:12 PM PST by gilor (Pull the wool over your own eyes!)
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To: no gnu taxes
The point teaching Euclidean geometry was to teach you how to think, not how to find the area of trapezoid.

If you depend on the calculator you will forever be dependent on other people to do your thinking for you.

70 posted on 12/18/2011 12:08:44 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Ceterum autem censeo, Obama delenda est.)
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To: no gnu taxes

EMP attacks won’t wipe out your memory nor disable slide rules.


71 posted on 12/18/2011 12:09:24 PM PST by tbpiper
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To: no gnu taxes

Please tell me you aren’t serious. “Them’s just jokes,” right?

I can’t tell you how many ignorant cashiers and waiters haven’t been able to give me proper change because the “machine” jammed, lost power, or just plain broke right in front of them.

Each time, I taught them how to count forward from the amount of the sale to the amount I tendered. Each time they stood there transfixed as if I had shown them a magic trick for the first time.

We have enough stupid people voting for Democrats. Let’s continue to teach basic readin’, writin’, and that other thang ‘bout countin’.


72 posted on 12/18/2011 12:12:46 PM PST by BuckeyeTexan (Man is not free unless government is limited. ~Ronald Reagan)
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To: no gnu taxes
I agree with many responders that the algorithms should be taught, especially in order to teach children to learn. We have a truly mind boggling amount of "facts" available throught the internet, but we are losing the ability to think logically and methodically.

We are becoming so mentally lazy that we call 911 when we get lost in a corn maze, rather than thinking and figuring a way out of the problem.

73 posted on 12/18/2011 12:14:12 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
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To: no gnu taxes

I still do math in my head, even when on the computer and the “calculator” icon is there. I still taught my grandkids how to tell time on an analog clock with no numbers just by the position of the hands. I’ve run into kids brought up on digital clocks that can’t do that. Dunno how important that is, but it struck my fancy.


74 posted on 12/18/2011 12:20:47 PM PST by Oatka (This is the USA, assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: no gnu taxes
At the very least, children should learn how to make change without a machine, if not to give change then to know when they receive correct change.

-PJ

75 posted on 12/18/2011 12:21:23 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (If you can vote for President, then your children can run for President.)
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To: chris_bdba

So if we are hit by an EMP all of a sudden we have huge numbers of people who can’t mange math?
x= # that won’t be able to function w/out electronics
y= # who will starve
So x+y=z
Z= total # affected=9/10USA
Thus 1-(9/10USA)=1/10 who can do math and survive EMP


76 posted on 12/18/2011 12:21:44 PM PST by taterjay
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To: dalereed

You caught my eye. I have a K&E log-log duplex that I bought in 1944 for a HS Trig class. I worked in a bakery the previous summer greasing bake pans to get the money for the K&E. I was drafted into WWII and came back to school under the G.I. Bill. College expenses were paid including supplies for my engineering education. Picked up a metal(magnesium I think)Pickett&Eckel which had more functions and which I used more. I have a collection of slide rules including circular ones.


77 posted on 12/18/2011 12:25:13 PM PST by noinfringers2
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To: no gnu taxes

I have an idea for you to consider. Lets just teach our kids to run and skip the crawling and walking stuff.

What you are suggesting is a bad idea.


78 posted on 12/18/2011 12:31:51 PM PST by TNoldman (AN AMERICAN FOR A MUSLIM/BHO FREE AMERICA.)
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To: smokingfrog
You can’t take an abacus with you everywhere.

Well, there is an app for that... Abacus

79 posted on 12/18/2011 12:48:17 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
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To: no gnu taxes

Sure if you want people with no concept of mathematics.


80 posted on 12/18/2011 12:48:56 PM PST by Mike Darancette (Either Obama can beat any GOP candidate or no GOP candidate.)
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