Quote:
Originally Posted by soundman98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG
I don’t know if that is funny or sad. As long as they show their work, who cares how they solved the problem. I thought common core was to help teach kids there is more then one way to solve a math equation since not all brains learn the same.
That teacher must be a part time Porsche Experience Center instructor.
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I kind of see both sides of this. As a young student, meaning elementary and Jr. High schools, I thought being forced to do something one way instead of the way I wanted to do it was insanely stupid and infuriating.
By late high school, then under- and graduate studies, I kind of gave up being infuriated and just did things the way my teachers wanted me to, or at least went through the motions, to keep everyone happy (and so I was less miserable). As time went on, I came to the realization that being required to solve various problems or acquire various skills via different pathways was extremely valuable, even if some of the pathways or processes weren't the ones I felt most comfortable with.
My under- and graduate degrees are in violin pedagogy/music education (undergraduate) and violin performance (graduate). I was blessed to have four excellent teachers throughout my studies, and all four insisted I do things exactly their way. I won't get into the specifics because it'd bore almost everyone to tears (if I haven't already), but there's a LOT of schools of thought to bow hand, arm, vibrato, moving around the fingerboard and neck, blah blah blah, and while some of what I was required to do didn't seem to help me "get the right answer," but it definitely gave me more tools to work with towards that end. As an adult and professional, I had more to pick and choose from as to what truly worked for me.
As a teacher at levels ranging from elementary to university levels, I was "guilty" of requiring my students to follow directions exactly as given and to practice certain techniques very specific ways, even if they could get "the right answer" in the manner in which they currently were functioning. Once they understood and mastered the way I was giving them, depending upon the student's needs, I'd give them maybe one or more OTHER ways to approach the same problem, even if it was already "solved," just so they'd have more to use in the future.
As an example, the problem of "5x3" above - yes, the student got the right answer, but perhaps part of the teacher/assignment/curriculum's goal was to also get the students thinking about operating order, so that when they start combining addition, multiplication, roots, exponents, etc., they already have an awareness of order. "5x3" really means "Five groups of the three," not "three groups of five" or "15." 15 means fifteen. Yes, we all know that, but sometimes we forget, myself included, that teachers should be teaching us how to think and process, not just whatever the "facts" are.
Once a student understands how multiplication works, then memorizing tables is a great time saver. In the linked article above, the student undoubtedly understands multiplication and probably has the tables memorized, but I don't see much harm in the teacher's desire to make sure the student follows directions literally, either. There are times in life when that can be a valuable skill, too.
BUT.. in general... yeah, much ado about almost nothing.