When I was a kid, each subject had its own attractions. The notion of a "right" answer was one of the things that I enjoyed about math. It didn't make me any less inquisitive. I often tried to come up with unorthodox ways of arriving at those answers.
Naturally, there's a side of math involving getting an approximate answer that's good enough to be useful. One thing I've noticed as my kids progress through school is that most science being taught is qualitative or descriptive.
Adding some quantitative science to the K-12 curriculum would be a way to teach a more fuzzy approach to math. Naturally, science has its own notion of "right" that could be learned through the formation and testing of quantitative hypotheses.
There were many courses where I could get an "A" by writing a mountain of drivel that anticipated the teacher's social biases. I was thankful for the boost to my GPA, but the "no right answer" aspects of those subjects frustrated me. Oh well, different strokes.
One thing the standardized tests might be doing is to focus too much on memorized algorithms. And it may not be necessary. My son had a teacher in grade school who didn't even teach the standard algorithms for things like two column addition. Instead, the kids spend time trying to come up with their own methods. Yet his students get excellent scores on the state tests.
Naturally, there's a side of math involving getting an approximate answer that's good enough to be useful. One thing I've noticed as my kids progress through school is that most science being taught is qualitative or descriptive.
Adding some quantitative science to the K-12 curriculum would be a way to teach a more fuzzy approach to math. Naturally, science has its own notion of "right" that could be learned through the formation and testing of quantitative hypotheses.
There were many courses where I could get an "A" by writing a mountain of drivel that anticipated the teacher's social biases. I was thankful for the boost to my GPA, but the "no right answer" aspects of those subjects frustrated me. Oh well, different strokes.
One thing the standardized tests might be doing is to focus too much on memorized algorithms. And it may not be necessary. My son had a teacher in grade school who didn't even teach the standard algorithms for things like two column addition. Instead, the kids spend time trying to come up with their own methods. Yet his students get excellent scores on the state tests.