tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post4285907642819944750..comments2024-03-22T13:39:55.941-07:00Comments on Math Mama Writes...: Why Math? Why School?Sue VanHattumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-62130623574220904752009-10-02T18:28:07.835-07:002009-10-02T18:28:07.835-07:00Hi Ben, Thanks for leaving a comment. I love the w...Hi Ben, Thanks for leaving a comment. I love the way you put that! I looked at your website just now. Very nice.Sue VanHattumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-33003127384980939652009-10-02T14:51:55.767-07:002009-10-02T14:51:55.767-07:00Hi Sue - my thoughts about this stuff are nowhere ...Hi Sue - my thoughts about this stuff are nowhere near settled but I did want to share one idea (kind of an elaboration of your Papert quote I guess):<br /><br />I think there's something really <i> deeply </i> empowering about mathematics. I believe the rich deep study of mathematics cultivates curiosity, profound resourcefulness, tolerance of frustration, persistence, and an amazing trust of your own mind. I think these are some of the really big reasons why it's an important part of education.<br /><br />The catch is that you could learn something called "mathematics" without learning any of this. The skills in an Algebra I course, or any specific mathematical skills, are totally unrelated to what I'm talking about. Students of mathematics have to engage in really deep reasoning and problem solving to get these benefits, not trusting expert sources of information but fighting for their understanding themselves. Since it's the skills, and not the struggle, that schools are answerable for, it's easy for math education to take place that doesn't yield any of these benefits.Benhttp://blumsmithmath.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-42785516849050062972009-09-27T10:51:01.587-07:002009-09-27T10:51:01.587-07:00And here's another viewpoint I just discovered...And here's another viewpoint I just discovered . Seymour Papert wrote <i>Mindstorms</i> in 1980. It's hard to believe I'm only now reading it for the first time. <br /><br />Papert says (page 10): When I trace how I came to be a mathematician, I see much that was idiosyncratic, much that could not be duplicated as part of a generalized vision of education reform. And I certainly don't think that we would want everyone to become a mathematician. But I think that the kind of pleasure I take in mathematics should be part of a general vision of what education should be about.Sue VanHattumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-41525765272384758462009-09-27T10:46:44.950-07:002009-09-27T10:46:44.950-07:00Hi Jeff, Yes, math is a language, the language of ...Hi Jeff, Yes, math is a language, the language of science. And it underlies music and much art, though artists may only speak math subconsciously. And...Sue VanHattumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-68982506490648368202009-09-26T06:21:33.787-07:002009-09-26T06:21:33.787-07:00Let me add my voice for a FAR BROADER view of &quo...Let me add my voice for a FAR BROADER view of "why math?". I wrote about this very issue as the foreword to a post at Blog on the Universe:<br /><br />http://bit.ly/kEGbg<br /><br />and it was re-posted at the Huffington Post under the title: Let's Ban English in School ... Except in English Class":<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-goldstein/lets-ban-english-in-schoo_b_217509.html<br /><br />Given that math is the language of nature, and that science and engineering are about an understanding of and interactions with nature, scientists and engineers need to speak nature's language .... and so should the rest of us. Why? <br /><br />Math - it powers the universe. You want to live life to the fullest as part of the universe? Get math. Good with cookies too. <br /><br />Want to see what you can do with math? On Sept 29 the NASA MESSENGER spacecraft will conduct a historic flyby of the planet Mercury. Math got it there. You want to participate in the mission? Done. It is being covered LIVE vis Web 2.0. And the code that's making the live connection possible, and your ability to read this? Math. <br /><br />MESSENGER coverage: http://bit.ly/TXrOs<br /><br />JeffJeff Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06100650929037970893noreply@blogger.com