Math has gone through a lot of phases. In the 1960s a lot of children received lessons in advanced topics to compete with Russian engineers later in life. Fast forward to today, and a whole new kind of “new math” has emerged that could be considered tricky.
New Math goes by a couple of other names, including “reform math” and “inquiry-based math,” and is a revolutionary change from how students have been taught for hundreds of years. It’s still based in global competition, but this time it makes a lot more sense.
How Things Used to Be
For generation after generation, schools taught children by way of what was called rote memorization. You may have reviewed something like the multiplication tables with the rest of your class, as one, in a monotone. The idea was to simply drill the information into your brain until it would never come out, whether you understood what it was for or not. Understanding and creativity never even entered the mix. However, this method of math instruction has led the US to a disgraceful place on the global standardized testing stage. [Read more…]