i've heard that a problem in schools today is that teachers are "teaching the test" for the purpose of helping the students pass standardized tests which may not be the same thing as teaching them to actually learn and understand the material and use it in real life questions.
Yesterday I was talking to an 8th grader, 13 years old, who is passing math. He hasn't failed a math class in years, if ever.
He couldn't figure out, in his head, what each of 3 identical items cost if together the bill came to $100.
When that stumped him, I suggested that he consider the final bill to be only $99 rather than 100. I reminded him that that would make the division come out even.
Nope. He guessed "30" but then immediately retracted his answer when he tested that figure and reslized 30 x 3 is only 90. A little too low.
So I gave him the answer of 33, and I challenged him to a different question:
this time involving four (4) items all equally priced
where the total bill added up to $100.
Nope. He didn't have a clue. He couldn't multiply anything by four in his head. That requires paper and pencil.
Or a calculator.
Or "Google it."
In a few years this kid will be a high school graduate, entering the workfore, with what is for all practical purposes a 4th grade education.
Yesterday I was talking to an 8th grader, 13 years old, who is passing math. He hasn't failed a math class in years, if ever.
He couldn't figure out, in his head, what each of 3 identical items cost if together the bill came to $100.
When that stumped him, I suggested that he consider the final bill to be only $99 rather than 100. I reminded him that that would make the division come out even.
Nope. He guessed "30" but then immediately retracted his answer when he tested that figure and reslized 30 x 3 is only 90. A little too low.
So I gave him the answer of 33, and I challenged him to a different question:
this time involving four (4) items all equally priced
where the total bill added up to $100.
Nope. He didn't have a clue. He couldn't multiply anything by four in his head. That requires paper and pencil.
Or a calculator.
Or "Google it."
In a few years this kid will be a high school graduate, entering the workfore, with what is for all practical purposes a 4th grade education.