[–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

I mean, go ahead and lie

I'm not lying. It's there in the textbooks. There are many available for free online these days.

Memorizing proofs

No students are required to memorise proofs, only how to do proofs to begin with.

Some chapters had token word problems

They're not token problems - learning how to do word problems is a central core of Maths. They're thrown in often.

Science class math comes with sniff tests that math class math doesn’t

Not really. v=d/t, s=ut+½at², and similar equations are used often in teaching Maths (such as in non-linear graphs).

because following rules is what you do

That's right. We teach that if you follow all the rules you will always get the correct answer. Now witness adults on social media arguing about the answer to an order of operations question because they've forgotten the rules but refuse to admit that's even possible, and yet the rules are still there to be found in Maths textbooks now, same as they were then, still the same rules (despite some of them claiming the rules have been changed).

algebraic notation is artificial.

No it isn't.

It’s manmade,

The notation is, the Maths isn't.

like the English language.

It's not at all like language, any language.

It’s a method of communicating ideas

No, it's a method of calculating things, like rocket trajectories, etc. Got nothing to do with communication at all.

except it was taught as a series of rules and procedures that you were supposed to memorize how to do without understanding the goal

I can't help it if you yourself had a bad teacher, but look in the textbooks and that isn't how it's taught at all.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (18 children)

    we approach teaching math to a nation full of hormonal teenagers as if they all want to grow up to be mathematicians

    No we don't.

    Starting in about the 7th grade they stop giving practical examples

    No we don't. Just check out some final exams to see plenty of them still included.

    if you’d explained it to me like that when I was 12

    Most teachers do, but some aren't very good, especially in the U.S. where it's not even required to have Maths qualifications to be a Maths teacher.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    remember FOIL?

    A lot of adults don't, then proceed to argue about order of operations, having forgotten that Brackets have to be all expanded out before doing anything else at all.

    We don’t learn that math because it’s practical for adult life

    Yes we do. I use Maths every day, quite separate to the fact I teach it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    I’m gonna track down all my HS math teachers and punch each and every one of them in the mouth.

    Understandable if you're in the U.S., where Maths teachers don't have to have any Maths qualifications. Other places, where you do have to have Maths qualifications, we teach this.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Where accuracy is important, since we almost always have a calculator with us now, that’s a no-brainer.

    Unfortunately most calculator apps were written by no-brainers who didn't check they had their Maths correct. If you need accuracy then get a name brand like Sharp or Casio.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    May as well just get out the calculator app to make sure

    Calculator apps get order of operations questions wrong because of programmers who were too lazy to check they had their Maths correct

    My point with those numbers is to just use a calculator.

    My point is avoid calculator apps like the plague. Use name brands like Sharp or Casio.

    Why 2nd guess anything?

    Guess what the programmer of your calculator app did 😂

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