Math Curriculum – Exploring the Impact of Outdated Teaching Methods on the Mathematical Literacy of American Students” Imagine that you were required to attend an art class where you were taught create a painting for a fence wall but were not presented with the artworks of the masters who were the best, and you were not even informed that these paintings exist. Sooner or later, you’ll be wondering, why do you study art?
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It’s crazy, of course however, it’s actually quite close to how we teach our children math. In the middle and elementary schools, and up to the high schools, we are able to hide mathematics’ great works from view of students.
The algebraic, arithmetic and geometric proofs that we teach are essential however, they’re to maths what whitewashing a fence does to Picasso — so simplistic it’s almost a liar.
The majority of us are unable to witness the true mathematics since our math education is over 1000 years old. For instance the formula for solving of quadratic equations was discovered in the book written by al-Khwarizmi in 830. Euclid set the foundations for Euclidean geometry in the year 300 BC.
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If the same concept of time warp was true in biology or physics and chemistry, we would not know about how the sun works, the electron, or DNA. This causes a huge gap in education for our children in schools, society and even the classroom.
If we want to provide students the tools they need to navigate the increasingly mathematical world, we have to show students from an early age that math isn’t only about numbers or how to solve equations, but about ideas and concepts.
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