Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

Drop the Calculator

William Sauerwein, Baltimore

I completely disagree with the "Revamp Math Ed" strategy. Children in general have the ability to handle abstract concepts earlier in life depending on the degree to which they have been stimulated to do so. If you try to generalize teaching to the lowest effort in order to engage the majority of students, you are making a huge mistake, because you'll end up not having any top students. If you start with the high-level math earlier, you will lose a lot of students who cannot keep up (and who would not be interested in math anyway), but you will be giving brilliant students the chance of reaching the stars.

Armando Solar, College Station, TX

Contrary to the comments, U.S. fourth graders did better than eighth graders compared to their counterparts in the rest of the world. Also, eighth graders in Italy, Norway, and England did worse than those in the U.S. This is according to the reputable TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), which compares 17 nations, and the U.S. fourth graders in 1995 scored at the average level (517). Four years later, in 1999, as eighth graders, their scores dipped to 22 points below average. Fourth graders from 1995 to 2003 stayed the same in math although the average results of 14 countries went up 11 points. U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 24th of out 29 countries in a study released in December 2004 by the Organization for Cooperation in Economic Development (OECD). The results, known as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), showed the U.S. students below average in both math literacy and problem solving.

It's absolutely right that many middle school teachers are not prepared to teach math at that level. Since 40 percent of what a student learns depends upon the teacher, we need to look at the credentials of our teachers. In the U.S. only 41 percent of the eighth grade math teachers have a degree in math compared to 71 percent of the other 40 countries participating in the 1999 TIMSS. I believe we should have math specialists teaching our children from fourth grade up. Children need to learn from early on that mathematics is based on reasoning and logic. Many of our primary teachers do not understand basic arithmetic. Why are parents expected to figure out and teach the math?

Joan Cotter, Hutchinson MN

The only problem with the approach mentioned in "Revamp Math Ed" is that it counts on the ability of college math professors to teach calculus. My experience is that most college math professors would rather sit alone in a little room and ponder abstract thoughts than teach calculus to a bunch of engineers. Math professors would have to be hired based on their teaching skills (gasp)!

Benjamin Stern, Clarksburg, MD

Having three children in the public school system, "Revamp Math Ed" hits on a subject that I have to deal with on a regular basis. The current direction of math education in particular is spiraling to disaster. Remember, the future teachers are currently being taught in our schools. The students are encouraged not to think. So let's teach them "how to fish." The skill that the students must learn is how to pull the answer out of the instructor like the horse that can stomp the sum. Keep trying until you get a favorable response.

James English, Middletown, PA