Ouch. That article sparked painful memories of my first attempt at college-level calculus. I was woefully unprepared & dropped the class rather quickly.
I guess that nonsense in my senior year of sitting in the back of a classroom with a pre-calculus book to figure things out on my own with a small group of similarly ignored students didn't help me one whit.
The author's comment about maturity resonated as well. I took another crack at college a handful of years later and absolutely smoked calculus (relatively speaking). I'd had no formal math since my first attempt, so could credit nothing other than being a little bit older.
The author's three main complaints are discussed beautifully:
1. Confusing difficulty with rigor.
2. Mistaking process for understanding.
3. Teaching concepts that are developmentally inappropriate.
Looking back, I think our teachers in HS stumbled the most @ #2. There was a whole lot of memorization, but understanding? Not so much. I'm one who thrives on knowing all the why's & wherefore's -- once I get those under my belt I can run in any direction.
Determining what exactly constitutes "developmentally appropriate" for DS is going to be a challenge -- I can see that already.
Thanks for sharing this article!
