I've been listening with interest, and I've got a couple of questions and (possible) provocations.
1. would learning calculus as a "powerful idea" (rather than through the duller algebraic approach) be counted as "using discovery or inquiry based learning as a substitute for hard facts"?
2. What IS a "powerful idea", and how does it become powerful? I'm particularly interested in asking whether ideas get their power from abstraction (finding similarity in structure), or generalization (finding similarity in features) - or from both.
Bob
On 8/17/07, David Corking <mailto:lists@dcorking.comlists@dcorking.com> wrote:
But what if the secondary math teachers complained loudly? I don't think they are in any decision process that I can find.
I don't know the US systems very well. I would like to think that school boards and education departments consult professionals first. Are there countries where that does happen?
hi David,
Curriculum statements have become contentious and politicised beasts because they are the main instrument of attempted control over teachers work. Many stakeholders fighting over problematic ideologies.
As long ago as 1994 two Australian academics - rather than describing them as academics I should say two of the most notable educational maths researchers in Australia - wrote a book ('The National Curriculum Debacle' by Nerida Ellerton and Ken Clements) complaining bitterly that the leading maths educational research group in Australia had not been listened to in the development of the then national profiles. This book is really a blow by blow description of the farcical process as well as a critique of outcomes based education
In more recent times in Western Australia (Australian education system is a State responsibility) there has been outrage at attempts at curriculum reform. One perception has been that outcomes based education has led to a watering down and socialisation of the maths / science curriculum. To quote retired Associate Professor Steve Kessell, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, letter to The Sunday Times 21/5/2006: "Learning about the sociology of the cosmetics industry is not real chemistry, discussing whether air bags should be mandatory is not real physics ... A 'culturally sensitive curriculum' borders on nonsense ..." This is but one small sample of a flood of complaint. See the PLATO (People Lobbying Against Teaching Outcomes) website for a lot more detail http://www.platowa.com/http://www.platowa.com/ btw I'm not endorsing their approach just pointing out how contested this area has become
My understanding is that this trend is world wide: http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/06/physics-teacher-begs-for-his-subject.htmlhttp://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/06/physics-teacher-begs-for-his-subject.h... "Wellington Grey, a physics teachers in the UK, has written http://www.wellingtongrey.net/articles/archive/2007-06-07--open-letter-aqa.htmlan open letter about the conversion of physics in his country from a science of precise measurement and calculation into "... something else, something nebulous and ill defined"
To critique it thoroughly would require a hard look at outcomes based education.
Summarising some of the issues:
- watering down, diluting, trivializing science and maths curriculum
- converting science / maths content into sociological content
- using discovery or inquiry based learning as a substitute for hard facts
This appears to be occurring systematically in western education systems. (Not in developing countries who are serious about catching up to the west and actively promote the importance of maths, science and computing science).
This is a big topic. Science and maths education seems to be polarising between a back to basics movement and soft sociological reform, often ineffectual "discovery learning". I believe there is a third way, that traditional science education can be reformed and still remain real science. Student designed computer simulations using software such as Etoys / Squeak could play an important role here.
-- Bill Kerr http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/
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