If you want a book of practical applications, go out to business and
industry people, actuaries, engineers, architects and so forth and ask them
"What math do you actually use and what problems have you had to try to
solve?"
Then ask them "Can I use this material in a textbook?"
> ----------
> From: urner@alumni.Princeton.EDU[SMTP:urner@alumni.Princeton.EDU]
> Reply To: urner@alumni.Princeton.EDU
> Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 2:15 PM
> To: mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu
> Subject: Re: [MATHEDCC] Why Johnny can't do math
>
>
> "Cohen, Deborah" <dcohen@jt.cc.va.us> wrote:
> >separate somehow from the calculations). Also, have you looked lately at
> >the majority of these word problems - they are contrived, dull problems
> that
>
> Indeed. Contrived. Dull. That's it in a nutshell.
>
> >it is stupid!! If we can't come up with more realistic problems to
> justify
> >some of the skills we're teaching, we have to begin to ask ourselves if
> >these skills are necessary). After being fed a steady diet of this kind
> of
>
> Agreed. Too much of the math we teach is just the math you need to
> be a math teacher. That's a very specialized approach.
>
> Curriculum writers need to do a better job of working backwards from
> the actual challenges facing people in different walks of life, where
> math applies.
>
> >them to think that word problems that involve calculation are frequently
> >stupid, so they don't recognize a real-life sort of reasonable problem
> when
> >they finally see one.
>
> Good point.
>
> >important as others - one quick example - when I started teaching 10
> years
> >ago, teaching interpolation for trig and logarithmic functions was
> thought
> >to be sacred - fortunately, $5 calculators finally made folks realize
> that
> >interpolation is no longer a necessary skill to teach).
>
> Exactly. Lots of material is dead weight, carried forward in time
> only because the teacher knows how to do it, and so thinks this
> must be critical knowledge to pass along. But teachers need to be
> students forever. Always say to yourself: "there's some very
> critical, important mathematics out there which my students
> really need today -- and I don't yet know it myself, but I plan to
> learn it and share it, because that's my job, and I'm good at my
> job."
>
> Kirby
>
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