Currently in Canadian high schools, computer studies classes typically have low enrolment rates and no student is ever forced to take any courses. Conrad Wolfram is a British technologist who preaches a radical reform of how math is taught in schools in the Ted Talk below.
He talks about how school math doesn't look like real world math. This is prevalent when we hear our students say "when are we ever going to need this", and as adults who have been through the education system, we know they are probably right. They won't need the content, but it is more about acquiring skills like logical thinking. Wolfram argues there's other ways we can teach this, without having to teach something that is in a lot of ways useless when it comes to real life application.
He argues that we spend a lot of time in school teaching computation, but this is something that in the real world is all done by computers. His solution is to essentially teach students how to program a calculation, as this is more similar to what we see in the real world. What better way to thoroughly understand a calculation then to design a program to do it for us.
I really like the idea of this and find it interesting that in our education system as currently set up, there is very little emphasis on programming and I think its a tragedy (not just because my degree is in computer science). Students can't even choose to start learning programming until grade 10. In England, many schools are choosing to make computing mandatary for grade 6/7/8, and the government is really pushing the subject because it sees how valuable the skills are in any job, in any field. Also for some mathematics programs at the university level, students must take at least one course in computer science, so perhaps these two subjects can be tied together much more closely earlier in education.
He argues that we spend a lot of time in school teaching computation, but this is something that in the real world is all done by computers. His solution is to essentially teach students how to program a calculation, as this is more similar to what we see in the real world. What better way to thoroughly understand a calculation then to design a program to do it for us.
I really like the idea of this and find it interesting that in our education system as currently set up, there is very little emphasis on programming and I think its a tragedy (not just because my degree is in computer science). Students can't even choose to start learning programming until grade 10. In England, many schools are choosing to make computing mandatary for grade 6/7/8, and the government is really pushing the subject because it sees how valuable the skills are in any job, in any field. Also for some mathematics programs at the university level, students must take at least one course in computer science, so perhaps these two subjects can be tied together much more closely earlier in education.
If they were to make this radical change though, there would need to be some pretty huge changes to educate math teachers seeing as most wouldn't have the qualifications to be able to teach programming. The economic impact alone would be huge. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be an argument to not change just because that is the way its always been done. If you've read this far, check out the video below for a more in depth look by Conrad Wolfram.
This is a very interesting viewpoint. We are always looking at how to connect our teaching to the real world. In some courses we do actually begin to tailor the subjects material to what you would be expected to do in the real world. We have different courses in math, so why not add one with a programming focus? I wouldn't want to make a huge change and make all math classes go in this direction, but to make a new course with this focus would be great. Especially for students who may be going on to programming in post-secondary.
ReplyDeleteI really second the thought represented in this video. I do feel that there indeed is a void between school learning and real life application. I think mathematics curriculum needs an overhaul and needs to be more application based rather than conceptual. I personally feel that students would retain knowledge for a longer period of time, if they will be able to experience real life use of the concept.
ReplyDelete