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#331
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Seeking straight A's, parents push for pills
On 28 Sep 2006 21:52:37 -0700, "laraine" wrote:
Perhaps the issue with such courses now is that the homework can take quite a bit of time, and homework seems to be a no-no these days. Huh? Most people are claiming their kids have a lot of homework, so I can't see how you can say it's a no-no. -- Dorothy There is no sound, no cry in all the world that can be heard unless someone listens .. The Outer Limits |
#332
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Seeking straight A's, parents push for pills
toypup wrote:
"laraine" wrote in message ps.com... Perhaps the issue with such courses now is that the homework can take quite a bit of time, and homework seems to be a no-no these days. I don't know where you live, but it's so the opposite where I am. The kids are overwhelmed with homework. toto wrote: Huh? Most people are claiming their kids have a lot of homework, so I can't see how you can say it's a no-no. I wasn't referring to the current situation in schools, but rather to what I perceive to be the attitude towards homework, particularly busy work, by some on these newsgroups. I realize the discussions about homework go back a few years, so I hope I am not overgeneralizing. The reason I particularly noticed those comments was because I have always been a big fan of homework. I have a fairly poor memory as well as a somewhat short attention span in class, even when I am trying very hard, so doing homework helped me a lot. It gave me time on my own to sift out important concepts and details, and I found repetition to be an advantage for me. But, of course, others might not be like me at all. In any case, if students are assigned a lot of homework these days (and I too have heard that), to expect them to spend a lot more time on proof geometry, advanced physics, etc., if they are not doing so already, is asking a lot, though some of that is helpful for later success if they desire a technical career. C. |
#333
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Seeking straight A's, parents push for pills
Herman Rubin wrote:
The problem with most students in algebra, and the courses and what they learn reflects this, is that the emphasis is on solving formulated problems, using only routine methods. I have seen an outline which has quite a few rules for handling equations, all of which are special cases of the rule of equality, and the students memorize them one at a time. One of my colleagues told me about a bright minority student who was in danger of flunking out; nobody had told him that he could formulate word problems. I said a bright student; for such, it is that it has not been taught, not that it was not learned. An exceptionally gifted child can use the c existing books. My son did, with not that much help. In fact, for logic he used two books, with somewhat different notations, around age 6. It would not be difficult to write a logic text which could be used by average elementary school children with a good teacher; with some modifications, my late wife's book can almost do this, although it was written for juniors in college. If someone is interested in making the modifications, I would be glad to cooperate, including introductory material on variables which could be used with beginning reading. I am NOT a writer, and I know how much work is involved in writing a book. In this case, there are good templates to work from, so it will be easier. Well, one piece of advice I can give you if you decide to do this (and if you want my advice), is to do it in small pieces, and get feedback from your audience (some exceptionally gifted children) as you are working on it. I'm sure many in these newsgroups would be interested in discussing it with you too. The pieces cannot be too small, and that has been considered. It sounds challenging, however, to go from a junior level college text to something for early elementary school. You might want someone extra (perhaps a mathematician who has taught elementary school?) to help you. I do not think it harder than the ones which have been taught at the elementary school level, except that the applications, which are not in those other books, may involve unknown material. A small amount of the vocabulary may need to be changed, but not much. I think I have found some references to your wife's books (sorry to be nosy), so when I get a chance, I'll take a look at them just to see what it is that you are talking about. You are likely to have GREAT difficulty with any of the others. They are written for people with considerable mathematical knowledge, while this one, despite it being junior level, has no real prerequisites. Yes, I definitely want to look at the appropriate text. Are you thinking of 'Set Theory for the Mathematician?' There is at least one mo 'Mathematical Logic Applications and Theory' The books that my son studied to learn logic are available, but I doubt that many primary school children can handle them. The one he learned algebra from might be a possibility for someone who has already learned to read. The book which I recommend for "adults" to learn the ordinal approach to the integers was definitely written for those who were adept at using algebra and had some idea of a proof, and who were willing to see that the details could be filled in. It is not appropriate for beginning teaching, and in fact it is even inadequate in its treatment of the integers, as it does not go into positional notation. But making sense of positional notation requires ordinals. Those additional texts you mention would probably also be useful to look at, if your idea is implemented. Those who produced the new math materials did not start with a finished product. We can to some extent go back to the old structured materials we had before the idea that children should always be with their age groups was imposed, and the idea of "relevance" instead of learning for the distant future, and doing things in a manner removing repetition, were the rule. So, you mean to start more from scratch than what those who designed 'new math' started with? Not really. We do have the theoretical materials in a pedagogical form. The only problems are to combine it all, extend where necessary, produce exercises, and figure out how fast to do it. Find one person willing to work on this with me, as I am not a good writer, and a "self-paced" program without enough exercises can be produced in a few months. It sounds like a possibility, and I have some ideas of whom I could contact for initial advice and information, but I also want to look at the book you mentioned before saying more. I can probably give you a better response in the next five weeks or so. Would you require the writer to work with you at Purdue, for at least some of the time, and would the initial six months of work be a full or part-time task for the writer? C. |
#334
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Seeking straight A's, parents push for pills
In article . com,
laraine wrote: Herman Rubin wrote: ................. I think I have found some references to your wife's books (sorry to be nosy), so when I get a chance, I'll take a look at them just to see what it is that you are talking about. You are likely to have GREAT difficulty with any of the others. They are written for people with considerable mathematical knowledge, while this one, despite it being junior level, has no real prerequisites. Yes, I definitely want to look at the appropriate text. Are you thinking of 'Set Theory for the Mathematician?' No; this is written for graduate students in mathematics, and is fairly difficult. There is at least one mo 'Mathematical Logic Applications and Theory' This is the one. It would take little revision to make this accessible to elementary school children, and possibly primary school. -- This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University. Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558 |
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