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Re: meaningful standards (fwd)
Posted:
May 30, 1995 8:00 PM
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Judy-
I don't think we're defensive about the intrinsic relevance of math, but,
instead, the intrinsic learnability (to coin a phrase) of it. Harvey Becker
put it better than I can, but I'd just add, a curriculum composed of
interesting problems might very well be more fun, but I don't know where the
students will develop the necessary structure of knowledge to solve future
problems. I believe we should supply them with the proper structure, then
boost them up often to those challenging problems so they have practice doing
it.
Basing a curriculum on the specific to the general is like asking Jack
Nicklaus to work on his game without ever going to the practice tee. And I
wonder how many Super Bowls Joe Montana would've won without ever practicing
the basics.
Dan Hart
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