I have a degree in math and I've worked my entire career in a math-heavy STEM field. I have never seen anything remotely akin to Everyday Math wordy explanations used in the working world. E.V.E.R.
So you know how I feel about that
FWIW, I have seen this need to explain math problems in words start to spread into higher level secondary school math - more so with my middle dd who is now in middle school - her school has changed math curriculums and the new books are all about explain explain explain 3 different ways and use detailed sentences etc.
JMO, but it all seems to be built around a preconceived notion that the extra words, extra explaining are necessary to help "non-mathy" folks understand math. That's all well and good - but when you're a working mathematician or scientist, your audience is going to be one of two crowds (usually) - either other scientists in your field, or people who have $ to invest but don't understand the math/science. The people who are your peers in math/science will understand your math and don't need it explained in full-length adventure novel format. The people who have the $ to invest or make decisions with don't *care* about the math, they just want to know that they trust your ability to be the math expert.
That's a bit of an over-simplification, but really, no, EM does not really exist in the working world. YET. Who knows what will happen when all the kids who grew up with EM enter the work force?
And if it seems like I'm grouchy about this, it might have something to do with my dd's math homework tonight. I won't mention what she had to explain in words. But yep, that's what she's doing. Explaining percentages in words. She's my kid who likes to write, and even she thinks it's just ridiculous.
polarbear
