Teaching Perspectives

Waiting for “Superman”

joshwilkerson1 Comment

This should be an interesting film. Here is a second trailer that gives you a better idea of how the film is structured and presented:

I’ll reserve final judgment until I’ve seen the actual movie. I will say that it seems to address a great need: the improvement of the educational system. I will also say this (again with the disclaimer that I haven’t actually seen how the movie addresses the issue): many of the problems that the trailer associates with faults in the educational system I believe can be traced back a step further to the disintegration of the American family unit. To me, this has placed a burden on the educational system to serve as foster parent and the system as it is currently structured clearly cannot carry this burden.

Of course, to those with eyes to see it is clear that problems facing the American family can also be traced back a step to what is ultimately a spiritual problem. There is such a close relationship in the chain of causation between spiritual lostness and educational lostness that I hope this movie makes one thing clear (at least for those with ears to hear): the American educational system is a mission field in need of workers.

Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

~Matthew 9:35-38 (italics added)

Related: Tim Keller on Christian Cultural Renewal

Less Helpful Teaching

joshwilkerson1 Comment

(There is a video below that may not display if you are viewing this through Google Reader or something similar)

Sorry for the long delay between posts…and also the interruption of the series “Math in Process.” Graduating, relocating, and job hunting apparently take up your time. Who knew? Probably most people. I would say that we’ll return to your regularly schedule blog program after these messages but we both know there is about 50/50 chance of that actually happening until life slows down (it does slow down right?). So I’m not making promises, just sharing hopes.

Anyway, in the meantime I came across this video (by that I mean a friend sent me a link) and thought I would share it. I can’t remember if I have mentioned this here before I not, but I believe all mathematical problems throughout history can be broken down into three stages: 1) problem formulation, 2) theoretical abstraction, 3) multiple applications.

This is a poor example, but to give you an idea what I mean here we go:

1) Pythagoras needs to build a triangular ramp. He has a horizontal board that is 4ft long and a vertical board that is 3ft long. How long should he cut the diagonal board?

2) Turning the boards from the ramp into lines on paper, Pythagoras is able to determine the third side should be 5ft. He is also able to determine that a2 + b2 = c2 , a fact that is true but is not dependent on this specific ramp building project.

3) This new theory can now be applied to multiple situations, causing other problems to arise and the process to be repeated.

In my opinion, the number one reason students struggle with math because they are introduced into the subject in the middle of step 2. In word problems we attempt bring them into step 3 (without causing new problems). But students are rarely, rarely, introduced to step 1: developing the problem.

Here is a video that suggests ways we can get students back to step 1.

The Enduring Uniqueness of Mathematics

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Why is mathematics different (in a good way) from every other subject you learned in school?

Two words: Pythagorean Theorem.

Let me explain. The Pythagorean Theorem in itself isn’t really the reason math is unique; it is merely an example I wish to use to illustrate my point. I chose this Theorem for an example because it has been my experience that it is one of the few things everyone remembers from math class, regardless of how much they enjoyed math or how well they did in the course. But just in case the P.T. slipped your mind, here is a recap:

For any right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (side opposite the right (90 degree) angle), is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides.

This result is attributed to the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras (hence the creative name for the theorem). Pythagoras lived between the 5th and 6th century B.C. and while he is ultimately the one credited with proving the theorem, there is evidence that the result of the theorem was known to the Babylonians 1000 years before Pythagoras was born. Notice this old tablet:

Wow, that is old. Here you can read more about the Babylonians and the Pythagorean Theorem.

My point is that in what other class are you performing the same operations as people were performing 3000 years ago? Certainly in history class you learn about earlier civilizations, but you are not being taught how to do history in the same manner as those civilizations. The precision that modern history requires was largely unknown to those ancient people. Perhaps in literature you read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, but again, you aren’t being taught to write in the same style of epic poetry.

So then why is it that in math class, while advancements have been made and technology certainly has come a long way, we still find it beneficial to perform calculations the way they were performed thousands of years ago?

My answer: there is nothing to perfect, nothing ot improve upon, when you come across truth. Real truth.

To all of us who hold the Christian belief that God is truth, anything that is true is a fact about God, and mathematics is a branch of theology.

~Hilda Phoebe Hudson