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Making Science and Math Kid Friendly?
mtspim asks: "I work for a non-profit organization that creates interactive math and science curriculum materials for kids and their instructors. Even though we have seen kids learn difficult topic more easily by using a computational approach to learning, most instructors are reluctant to introduce these new ways of thinking into their curriculum. What do Slashdot users think are the best ways to help revitalize math and science programs in our schools, or should we stick to the old conventional methods to learning?"
It's always about making *science* and *math* kid-friendly.
Has anyone ever tried making the *kids* science and math-friendly?
The first thing that needs to be done to revitalize math and science learning is to remove the stigmas associated with it. These stigmas were not present to the degree they are today in the 50's and 60's. This is one of the reasons that we were able to pull of some amazing feats (such as the space program in the 60's and the microprocessors in the 70's) during those times. Being labeled a 'geek' and being ostracized by other students does little to make other 'normal' students want to learn science and math. The sad thing is that it starts young (8 years old).
When I was in public schools, I had the benefit of being identified in the high-performer category because I had actually learned a lot from of math from watching PBS programs such as Square One Television, and my mother had taught me to read before my first day of kindergarden unlike any other member of my class.
As more and more resources are being allocated to "special ed" for those who underperform because such spending is mandatory under various laws, I notice that the programs for the overperformers are being cut back repeatedly because they are strictly optional. I wonder how many future whiz-kids we're losing to the fact that they're getting bored in too-dumb-for-them mainstream classes and therefore goofing off with their extra time instead of being given work that's at their actual mental level rather than their age's level.
People need to realize that most kids don't have a desire to learn these things, and most teachers don't have a desire to teach. Kids go because it's publicly funded babysitting, teachers go to get paid. At some point grades become relevant, and kids learn to do whatever it is they have to do to pass the classes. When it becomes necessary to accomplish some goal, the material will be learned.
If we did, for some reason, decide to make an point of 'teaching' our kids, by somehow giving them a real reason to learn and the teachers a real reason to teach, it'd be amazing the knowledge that could be imparted. I don't see any reason why a 10 year old cant do calculus, other than they're "not prepared yet."
Better "curriculum materials" aren't the answer. I don't know what the answer is, but it should somehow involve rewarding kids for learning and rewarding teachers for teaching, which just doesn't happen in our current system.
or maybe just a root...
...not the other way around.
Most math and science teachers (US Elementary & High School) do not have degrees in Math or Science.
The problem is that it is very tough to get talented teachers to remain teaching. Moving into the private sector is much more profitable.
We need to overhaul the system so that Mathematicians and Scientists want to be teachers...
I come from a country where the teachers are just as bad, probably worse. The difference is, in that country Engineers, Doctors and Mathematicians are regarded as the best members of society whereas businessmen, athletes and entertainers are just average people. That is motivation enough to make kids learn math and science well. Of course, good teachers and good motivation would be best, but cultural motivation is the biggest factor.
Treat it as such.
Too often I see teacher after teacher who treats math with disdain and as something you can just memorize a few techniques and have down cold.
These are the kids I see shake with fear when they have to synthesize to answer a problem... in an Advanced Engineering Mathematics course in college.
Teach it as if it were a language--through immersion; by teaching fundamental concepts and then building on those (rather than our current backwards system); and teach the rules before you teach the exceptions, special cases, and other things of that nature (e.g., how did you learn how to take the determinate of a matrix?). Teach application--teaching them about matrices is pretty much worthless unless you talk to them about systems of linear equations. Force them to apply this language in situations outside of the ones that you have taught.
Deemphasize memorization and emphasize understanding--Don't make them memorize trigonometric rules, teach them Euler's Equation and about imaginary numbers.
Respect the students ability to learn mathematics. E. B. White said the following: "No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader's intelligence, or whose attitude is patronizing." This is a fundamentally true statement that applies to teaching--if the teachers hate the subject and don't know it all that well themselves, then they aren't going to trust the students ability to learn it.
Integrate Keynote and LaTeX
The problem is, kids today think the world owes them something. Teachers aren't people who are trying to educate them and motivate them and prepare them for the real world; they're people who are trying to hold them back and 'cramp their style'. When a student is told that doing something is wrong, and then the student gets punished for doing it, it's never a matter of 'oh, shoot, i did something wrong and i got caught doing it' -- it's always 'ugh, this fucking sucks, this is bull shit, i don't have to put up with this'.
I hate to sound like a fascist or something, but rewards don't work with kids today. They're too 'punk' for rewards. What schools need is discipline. I don't mean dress codes and other 'pre-emptive' kinds of discipline that everybody seems to like -- those just hurt the people who aren't jerks. I mean real-world, reactionary discipline. When you do something wrong in the real world, you're generally get punished by being fired or fined or jailed. School should be the same way. When you call a teacher a 'fucking retard', you shouldn't just get an unexcused absence for that period. You should get a detention, and if you don't serve that detention, you should get suspended. If you destroy school property, you should be fully expected to pay for every last dime of it. Et cetera. :/