Quick -- which is bigger: 1/3 or 1/4? Apparently, there is a significantly large proportion of the American Public that believes that 1/3 is less than 1/4. After all, 3 is smaller than 4.
Evidence is cited in the New York Times Magazine, July 27, 2014 in the article (New Math)-(New Teaching)= Failure, by Elizabeth Green. The premise of the article is that "the common core is the best way to teach math, but no one has shown the teachers how to teach it." The example above appears in the article.
Follow this link; it has the same article but with a different title that's a little more provocative. Read enough of the article to find the reference to the McDonald's restaurant competitor that offered the "third" pounder to be in competition with McDonald's "quarter" pounder. In your response to this blog, be sure to mention the more provocative title AND the name of the competitor restaurant, just so I know you read at least a little of the article.
I'd like your response to anything in this article in a meaningful but brief essay. Some ideas follow: (Go ahead, be provocative!)
Do you think it's the education system? Do you think it's the poor education of our math teachers in this country? Many of your teachers (like me) at independent schools (like AA) have never received any formal training in math teaching. What's up with that?
Why do you think we have so much "innumeracy" in our fellow Americans (to use a vocabulary word coined by John Allen Paulos). If we had as much "illiteracy" as "innumeracy," then people would be up-in-arms. Why are folks not so upset about the "innumeracy"? What's up with that?
Do you have examples of innumeracy that you'd like to share? I wrote a post on this last year; I've made it available again if you'd like to see that. (Find it below....)
Due Date: The THIRD day 9 in our semester 2 occurs Feb 17. If you do not have class that day, of course it's due Feb 18.
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