Today I’d like to share with you a fragment of «A Mathematician’s Lament», by Paul Lockhart.
So how do we teach our students to do mathematics? By choosing engaging and natural problems suitable to their tastes, personalities, and level of experience. By giving them time to make discoveries and formulate conjectures. By helping them to refine their arguments and creating an atmosphere of healthy and vibrant mathematical criticism. By being flexible and open to sudden changes in direction to which their curiosity may lead. In short, by having an honest intellectual relationship with our students and our subject.
I think this post’s title and the cited fragment speak by themselves.
You can read the full piece here.
De modo que ¿cómo deberíamos enseñar matemáticas a nuestros estudiantes? Escogiendo problemas naturales e interesantes, que vayan con sus gustos, personalidades y nivel de experiencia. Dándoles tiempo para hacer descubrimientos y formular conjeturas. Ayudándoles a refinar sus argumentos y creando una atmósfera de crítica matemática sana y saludable. Siendo flexibles y abiertos a cambios súbitos en la dirección a la que apunte su curiosidad. En resumen, manteniendo una relación intelectual honesta con nuestros estudiantes y las matemáticas.
Creo que el título de este post, en conjunto con el fragmento citado, hablan por sí solos.
Pueden leer la pieza entera acá
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#1 by Andres on 15/Dic/2014
The current emphasis on teaching «science» by dressing it up as something else (cf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIkRUW6BEBc) appears to work for people that weren’t initially interested by the subject matter. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean the people that might have been most interested by the subject will now be satisfied by the resulting classes.
Teaching to the average can be a problem: the average improves, but what happens to the extraordinary? What happens to Srinivasa Ramanujan or Albert Einstein in this environment? If these geniuses are not interested in the dressed up version of the subject matter and get horrible grades, are they also labeled as «unfit for math»?