TEDxSMU Tuesday 2.22.11
Then and Now: The Industrial Model of Education, TechTicker, April 24, 2009
“…the fact the same classroom dynamic remains largely intact to this day is a travesty for learning and is a clear indication of how firmly rooted the industrial model has become in education.”
Report Urges Changes in Teaching Math, New York Times, March 14, 2008
“…The report tries to put to rest the long, heated debate over math teaching methods. Parents and teachers have fought passionately in school districts around the country over the relative merits of traditional, or teacher-directed, instruction, in which students are told how to do problems and then drilled on them, versus reform or child-centered instruction, emphasizing student exploration and conceptual understanding. It said both methods had a role.”
Culture, Not Biology, Underpins Math Gender Gap, Science Daily, June 2, 2009
“…the Wisconsin researchers document a pattern of performance that strongly suggests that the root of gender disparity in math can be pegged to changeable sociocultural factors. Such factors either discourage or encourage girls and young women in the pursuit of the skills required to master the mathematical sciences.”
A Mathematician’s Lament, Paul Lockhart, 2002 [original essay]
A Mathematician’s Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form, Paul Lockhart, 2009
Paul Lockhart became interested in mathematics when he was 14 (outside the classroom, he points out). He dropped out of college after one semester to devote himself exclusively to math. Based on his own research he was admitted to Columbia, received a PhD, and has taught at major universities. Since 2000 he has dedicated himself to “subversively” teaching grade-school math.
Related TED Talks
Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education, TED2011
Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script — give students video lectures to watch at home, and do “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help.
Arthur Benjamin’s formula for changing math education, TED2009
Someone always asks the math teacher, “Am I going to use calculus in real life?” And for most of us, says Arthur Benjamin, the answer is no. He offers a bold proposal on how to make math education relevant in the digital age.
Arthur Benjamin does “Mathemagic”, TED2005
In a lively show, mathemagician Arthur Benjamin races a team of calculators to figure out 3-digit squares, solves another massive mental equation and guesses a few birthdays. How does he do it? He’ll tell you.
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity, TED2006
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover, TEDxNYED
Today’s math curriculum is teaching students to expect — and excel at — paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. At TEDxNYED, Dan Meyer shows classroom-tested math exercises that prompt students to stop and think.
Ron Eglash on African fractals, TEDGlobal 2007
‘I am a mathematician, and I would like to stand on your roof.’ That is how Ron Eglash greeted many African families he met while researching the fractal patterns he’d noticed in villages across the continent.