[Edu-sig] a non-rhetorical question

[kirby urner]

On 7/7/07, Ivan Krstić <krstic at solarsail.hcs.harvard.edu> wrote:
...

> Bottom line: terminology matters. I think it's impossible to teach CS
> to kids who are afraid of math. Teaching *programming* is something
> else entirely. I'd submit that what Andy can expect from his students
> depends largely on which of the two he's trying to teach.
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Ivan Krstić <krstic at solarsail.hcs.harvard.edu> | GPG: 0x147C722D

You're correct that math has a terrible reputation in many corners.
As mathematician Keith Devlin puts it, math is about making the
invisible visible -- a meme he invented to try countering the negative
perceptions people have about math.
http://www.maa.org/features/invisible.html

On the other hand, if you're sitting in front of a computer, connected
to the Internet especially, there's a sense of possibility, as well as of
community.  Technology has "sex appeal" including the allure of a more
positive future (a meaning captured by the South African word 'kusasa').
Bridging the digital divide is another way of saying we're working to
spread analytical skills to those who could use them.

So a question confronting a lot of us is how to "rescue" mathematics
by means of technology, which in part means restoring a sense of
fun (Papert: "hard fun") and play.  In the 1980s, it seemed K-12 math
curricula were on the verge of incorporating more technology in the
form of BASIC and Logo, but here we are in 2007 and most high school
math classes are stuck in the calculator era.  What happened?

I think what a lot of kids find accessible and meaningful is a "how
things work" approach (which connects to Keith Devlin's meme).  We
want to explain real stuff in the real world, and that takes mathematical
concepts, analytical thinking and the like.  Little things like indexing,
data structures like trees (document object model, xml) make a huge
difference.  Databases are behind the scenes in so many walks of life.
In the traditional curriculum, that means branching off from Venn
Diagrams, plus talking about data in tabular formats.  When we talk
about Venn Diagrams would be a good place to put some intro to
SQL.

A problem in the mathematics culture is there's a lot of pride at having
made it through certain "filters" and a wish to impose those filters on
newcomers, to see who "makes it" through these difficult obstacle
courses.  Whereas I recognize every profession has standards, and
not everyone is cut out to be just anything, I think math's poor
reputation is in many ways a result of too much pride among the
math savvy.  There's a lot of protectionism, not to mention
overspecialization that goes on.  I see the infusion of computer
savvy as helping to break up some of the old patterns of specialization.
Restoring the reputation of mathematics does not have to mean
returning to some past status quo.

Kirby