Programming Mathematics

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.

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.

Teaching Kids Real Math With Computers

How often have you heard someone say something like, "kids these days can can't do anything without a calculator"? The thinking behind such a statement assumes that if you can't do math with pen and paper or better yet, in your head, then you aren't really doing math. The flawed logic that drives this assumption is that math = calculations. In the TED talk below, Conrad Wolfram correctly asserts that math is not equivalent to making calculations, but something much greater. So often in our math classrooms students spend a great deal of time performing calculations. Why spend so much time performing calculations when we have machines/computers that can do it much quicker and accurately than ourselves. One of the great takeaways from Conrad's TED talk is that math can be used to solve so many interesting real world problems. Formulating a question, identifying a problem and being able to solve the problem using math is interesting and exciting. What is not interesting and exciting (to many) is the calculations. Yet we have students spend hours and hours doing calculations. If computers were integrated more heavily in the math classroom then students could use math to solve real problems instead of just doing calculations. For example, in the video there is a sample exam question which could be posed (on computer, not pen and paper) which is "which is the best life insurance policy?". Students would use the computer to input variables to determine the answer. Let the computer do the calculation and let the students solve the real problem. Conrad Wolfram suggests that math curriculum should be reformed to emphasize computer based math. I believe this would be far more relevant to students lives, more practical, and definitely more interesting. It should be pointed out that this doesn't mean there isn't a place for hand calculations or that they should be forgotten completely. But if it computer based reforms can make students more more interested in math and perhaps help them in everyday life, then I am all for it.

TED: Teaching kids real math with computers