Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion More algebra talk

Mmm…maybe some bright kids get well educated in math despite poor math teaching in elementary and high school, but IMO most don't. I also work in the sciences and we have lots of highly motivated bright young people come through our lab. Sadly, most cannot pass a simple basic math test on dilutions and must be given remedial training in how to set up an equation to find the unknown. The vast majority are profoundly uncomfortable with math and therefore avoid it. They avoid it to such an extent that they do not even estimate what the right answer should be before plugging in to a random internet calculator to solve medication calculations. One young woman was a product of a local school district's gifted program that utilized a system of one year advancement in Every Day Math to provide challenge. She avoided math when choosing a major and worked for us after getting her BS in Bio. At age 22, gifted, college educated, she still could not quickly and efficiently set up and perform addition or multiplication problems that required carrying. The thing is, this meant that she could not estimate dosages and if she entered the problem incorrectly in a calculator she had no idea if the answer was right or not. Also, she was embarrassed by her inabilities in math and thus reinforced in her avoidance. All through elementary she "liked" math, but she never learned to DO math and this had a real impact on her not "liking" and not choosing math based subjects during university. She never had a chance to experience a revelatory "got it" moment--since she never took math after high school. Yes, our lab helped her get better at this kind of math, but wouldn't it have been better for her to have really learned addition and multiplication in elementary? I meet young people in her situation every semester. I agree that "not all people were born to love math", but I disagree, rather vehemently, that this means that we don't need to worry about what math is being taught in our schools or how it is taught. I don't have to love math to need to be able to use algebra ( $5.98/ 4 extension cords = cost per cord (if this is even algebra)), addition ( 3ml + 5ml + 2ml = ? ), multiplication (0.09 X 16.54=?), with a little geometry (if I have a 100mm diameter circular dish how many square cm is that?) every single day. Of the students we have had come through the lab only one passed the math facts test with a perfect score.
They were from Russia.