Well this is true in a way if you are a RESEARCH Mathematician say a university math professor who does new research you need to be able to explain your work in a written paper. This has been true for years. Writing up math is used in the field so that others in the field can understand and critique your work. But research mathematicians are only a tiny fraction of people in the world who use who use math. And I doubt very many of them learned math in the way you describe. Most mathematicians that I know (and I do know a few) work out the math, and only write out the paper when they know they have a new result they want to share with the world. And for most of those that USE math on a regular basis like scientists and engineers this is quite ridiculous. I'm still trying to imagine doing even elementary H.S. chemistry with this technique.
I can believe that for some people this may be an easier way to understand the concepts but for those who are inherently good at math concepts this is simply torture. In my mind 4 + 5 = 10 is a lot easier to understand than 'four plus five equals ten'. I agree with you that this teacher is full of hot air. I think I would be more willing to believe that Standford/EGPY has a fairly good idea of how to teach and understand math. My guess is this teacher has been sold a bill of goods and has swallowed it whole.
Last edited by bluemagic; 09/10/14 09:22 PM.
