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| node: | Mathland - too far away for most kids :( |
| template: | 4 |
| parent: | Ked budem velky, bude zo mna.. |
| owner: | psycho |
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| created: | 17.04.2010 - 18:38:06 |
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cwbe coordinatez: 866 1551575 4651990 5296809 ABSOLUT KYBERIA |
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The Origins of Mindstorms
Papert has much to criticize about the way mathematics are taught to children. Although he was writing in the late 70s, the situation is not much better today, even though we have much better tools available to us for teaching math. The problem with mathematics education is that we are too far removed from the subject being taught. I was one of many high school students who believed that math had no connection to my life, and that I would never need to do more than balance a checkbook or count the correct change. The universe in which math made sense seemed far, far away from my day-to-day existence.
When children are young, they are incredibly facile learners. If your child were to spend some time in France, it is likely he or she will pick up quite a bit of French. "What would happen," asked Papert, "if children who can’t do math grew up in Mathland, a place that is to math what France is to French?"
In the 1970s, Papert constructed a kind of Mathland using the LOGO programming language, and robotic turtles that could draw pictures. These tools were used by very young kids, who would not ordinarily be exposed to concepts like angles and polygons. A key component of Papert’s educational philosophy is self-directed learning. As kids build cool things in Mathland, they naturally encounter problems which require creative mathematical solutions. As a result, formerly abstract mathematical concepts take on a real meaning, and there are tangible rewards for tinkering with these concepts.
I am personally convinced that a year of making self-designed computer games (or any number of other hands-on activities) would be a superior replacement for the pre-algebra classes that are taught to middle schoolers. [to preto ten moj prirodzeny vztah k matike =)] Any time you create a situation in which your child needs math to accomplish something desirable, like making a robot, or a videogame, or a model airplane, you are taking your kid a little closer to Mathland. And that’s an amazing place to be.
Papert has much to criticize about the way mathematics are taught to children. Although he was writing in the late 70s, the situation is not much better today, even though we have much better tools available to us for teaching math. The problem with mathematics education is that we are too far removed from the subject being taught. I was one of many high school students who believed that math had no connection to my life, and that I would never need to do more than balance a checkbook or count the correct change. The universe in which math made sense seemed far, far away from my day-to-day existence.
When children are young, they are incredibly facile learners. If your child were to spend some time in France, it is likely he or she will pick up quite a bit of French. "What would happen," asked Papert, "if children who can’t do math grew up in Mathland, a place that is to math what France is to French?"
In the 1970s, Papert constructed a kind of Mathland using the LOGO programming language, and robotic turtles that could draw pictures. These tools were used by very young kids, who would not ordinarily be exposed to concepts like angles and polygons. A key component of Papert’s educational philosophy is self-directed learning. As kids build cool things in Mathland, they naturally encounter problems which require creative mathematical solutions. As a result, formerly abstract mathematical concepts take on a real meaning, and there are tangible rewards for tinkering with these concepts.
I am personally convinced that a year of making self-designed computer games (or any number of other hands-on activities) would be a superior replacement for the pre-algebra classes that are taught to middle schoolers. [to preto ten moj prirodzeny vztah k matike =)] Any time you create a situation in which your child needs math to accomplish something desirable, like making a robot, or a videogame, or a model airplane, you are taking your kid a little closer to Mathland. And that’s an amazing place to be.