I despair of the education system.

wrightk

bylromarha wrote: »

Personally what annoys me is the way that the phrase "I'm no good at maths" is socially acceptable.

You hear it far more than "I'm no good at English". With some parents during parents evening at school, it's like a badge of honour to not be good at maths. It's as if it's ok for their child to not be good at maths as they weren't. For some, this leads to not even bothering to support at home.

I cant speak for others, but i tried and failed 4 times to get a grade in maths, received additional tutoring and even now still panic/have to use my fingers trying to add up under pressure ie in a shop situation.

The term may be banded about but personally think its a serious one. I know plenty of people who were fantastic at maths but couldn't play an instrument to save their life or have any creative side whatsoever. The difference in the left and right side of the brain is well known. Some are just lucky enough to have a good enough balance

People have strengths and weaknesses. Just annoys me when people dismiss others as no-hopers

daytona0

wrightk wrote: »

I cant speak for others, but i tried and failed 4 times to get a grade in maths, received additional tutoring and even now still panic/have to use my fingers trying to add up under pressure ie in a shop situation.

The term may be banded about but personally think its a serious one. I know plenty of people who were fantastic at maths but couldn't play an instrument to save their life or have any creative side whatsoever. The difference in the left and right side of the brain is well known. Some are just lucky enough to have a good enough balance

People have strengths and weaknesses. Just annoys me when people dismiss others as no-hopers

I breezed through my college maths and got an A : If I'd have revised then I would have gotten an A*. I also got a 2:1 (again, a bit too lazy) in a maths-related degree. In contrast, English was one of my weakest subjects.

So I'm the opposite to you in such a respect, but I completely buy into what you say! Some people just think completely differently to me, and I've had the pleasure of tutoring GCSE maths students in the past who were struggling to get a C grade. Really puts it into perspective and helps you to appreciate that people have all sorts of unique and interesting skills/interests.

One thing I'll admit to, though, was that I worked in a bookmakers for a few years when I was younger. I LOVED the job, especially the maths of it all. Despite that, I was awful at counting money when people handed me a coin to round it up (for example a returns of £3.90 and they'd hand me £1.10 to round it up to a £5 note - my own strategy for working this out involved putting the £3.90 with the £1.10 and visualising the total amount. Surprisingly one or two people did make a comment about it! I was just finding it hilarious because I was writing my masthematics dissertation on the sly whilst working there!). Also, in op's example the 3x4 problem can be solved through good old fashioned counting - it isn't an incorrect method of calculating the answer!

The thing I despair most about the educational system is:

1. People who talk about being smarter than others wouldn't dream of volunteering their time to help those who are trying to achieve something.

2. The absolute beauty about mathematics is the richness in the way which problems can be solved. There is no correct way of solving a maths problem (as long as you come up with the correct answer), but the educational system simply teaches one way of doing it which is not easy for some to learn.

Ectophile

There's a lot more to maths than simply remembering tables and being able to do mental arithmetic.

My mental arithmetic skills are pretty poor. I forget what the numbers were before I've finished the sums. I never did manage to learn the times tables at school (and I still don't know all of them many years later).

That didn't stop me getting O-level maths. And A-level maths. And A-level further maths. And a degree in Physics. And a PhD.

What's 6x8? No idea.
But I do know that 6x8 = 2x8 + 4x8 = 16 + 32 = 48. (conveniently, there's no carry required on that one, so that's easy).
Or that 6x8 = 8x6 = 10x6 - 2x6 = 60 - 12 = 48.
Or perhaps 6x8 = 5x8 + 8 = (10x8)/2 + 8 = 80/2 + 8 = 40 + 8 = 48.

Why do I need to learn arbitrary tables of numbers just because they've been doing it that way since schools were invented?

Cornucopia

Ectophile wrote: »

Why do I need to learn arbitrary tables of numbers just because they've been doing it that way since schools were invented?

The reason why times tables were taught is because they are (more or less) required to do division on paper.

Gingernutty

swingaloo wrote: »

Where I work we deal with incoming stock which has to be checked and counted before being accepted.

One day last week I was working with my manager who is in his 30s and he was used a calculator to do 10 x 10.

Prior to that I had asked a colleague to bring half a dozen units of a certain product. The reply was 'How many is half a dozen?.
I'm often shocked at the standard of emails I get from managers-
'Can you wright the numbers on the bored before the meeting' is one of many gems. I've had to forward emails to outside companies which have been written by our management and they are embarrassing.

Its like every other aspect of our culture. Standards are slipping.

In a previous job, I worked in a lab analysing 'ahem' licit and illicit recreational substances.

One such item was a carrier bag of wacky baccy.

It came to approximately 453g maybe 454g. If you get 28.35g is approximately 1oz, then 453.6g is 16oz or 1lb.

The standard street measure was/is still imperial - think ounces and fractions of an ounce.

After the item had been analysed and the answer checked, it was my job to call the officer.

After giving him the weight in grams, he asked "What's that in ounces?"

I replied "It's about a pound in weight."

"Yeah," he replied, "But what's that in ounces?"

There was a brief pause as I tried to work through the question....

"That's sixteen ounces"

"That's a lot"

"Yes"

He'd become so used to dealing with one measure(the ounce), he had no idea about how ounces related to pounds...

NewShadow

I'm wondering if the person question was just knackered.

When I was a student I worked for (as then) Sommerfeld.

Sometimes I'd start at 5 with the delivery or bakery, do an 11 hour shift, have an hour or two off (It's the law you know...), then back for an 11 hour shift (then 2 days off).

Even with a 6 hour shift - sometimes the combination of the nature of the work, the unnatural light, the background noise - you almost entered a trance. Especially with a repetitive and automatic job like the checkout.

Walking out of the building at the end of the day, I was hard pressed to walk in a straight line sometimes.

I can well believe I might have responded in the same was as the OP if caught by a customer in a moment of 'brain fart'.

pendragon_arther

So when I went to junior school in the 50's and we were taught the alphabet and the times tables up to 12 by repetition why was it everyone in the school could do them? What's changed in the makeup of the human brain nowadays?

Exile_geordie

Bloomin Grammer Nazi's everywhere,

The-Truth

Nick_C wrote: »

No. The OP illustrates that many young people lack the most basic maths skills.

And putting up with these declining standards and stating that these people have different abilities simply excuses our failing education system.

So when a cashier counts to 12 instead of doing 4*3 in their heads you're saying we as the human race should stand their and have a tantrum? To me that is completely perfectic even more perfectic than not being able to do 4*3!

If you want to behave like that as the op did (they state it in their op) then so be it. I would never dream of behaving in such a trivial way.

Nick_C

The-Truth wrote: »

So when a cashier counts to 12 instead of doing 4*3 in their heads you're saying we as the human race should stand their and have a tantrum? To me that is completely perfectic even more perfectic than not being able to do 4*3!

If you want to behave like that as the op did (they state it in their op) then so be it. I would never dream of behaving in such a trivial way.

What on earth are you talking about? Lol.