Professor: Fractions Should be Scrapped
Dennis DeTurck, an award-winning professor of mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, is calling for an end to the teaching of fractions to young students. He favors going all decimal. George Andrews, a mathematics professor over at Penn State, says that "all of this is absurd." I agree with Andrews.
DeTurck thinks fractions should be taught later when students are better able to understand them -- perhaps after learning calculus. I say that if a student can't comprehend fractions he or she has no business taking calculus -- or algebra.
How would someone get to a decimal value without understanding fractions? If told to add 1/3 and 1/2, would they know to add 0.3333 to 0.5 and get 0.8333, since they presumably don't know how to get a common denominator and then add the numerators to get 5/6? Would they know that 5/6 is an exact result while 0.8333 is not?
If students can solve for the two possible values of x in this algebraic equation, 3x/4 - 1/x = 1, they should be able to solve this one, 1/3 + 1/2 = x, and get x = 5/6 rather than x = 0.8333. If so, they understand fractions -- but they might not know it. If they don't know it, they might get 0.9999 when asked to add 1/3 and 1/3 and 1/3.
No Dennis, I think we need to keep trying to teach kids to understand and work with fractions. If they have too much trouble with it they should consider going into music, art, athletics or politics.
Comments
Make a comment:
- Government is Friction
- We Have Too Many Experts
- Money is Not Wealth
- The Minimum Wage and Cotton Pickers
- Arizonans React to San Diego Boycott
- Let's Use Afghanistan as an Entitlement Testbed
- Socially Disadvantaged Farmer or Rancher
- Even Charity is Not Always a Good Thing
- Why Not Give Universal Footwear a Try?
- Supporters of New Health Care Acts Disingenuous
- anhinga on The Minimum Wage and Cotton Pickers
- Carson on The Minimum Wage and Cotton Pickers
- anhinga on The Minimum Wage and Cotton Pickers
- Carson on Arizonans React to San Diego Boycott
- anhinga on Arizonans React to San Diego Boycott
- anhinga, 31 July 2010
- Carson, 19 June 2010
- Liquid Egg Product, 18 June 2010
- Carson, 02 May 2010
- Liquid Egg Product, 01 May 2010
- Anhinga
- Carnival of Climate Change
- Ekawaaz
- Flashpoint
- Florida Cracker
- I Can Plainly See
- Ironic Surrealism
- Liquid Egg Product
- Ms Understood
- The Hatemongers Quarterly
- Truth, Lies and Character
DeTurck's doing this for attention, right? Right?
Probably, but I would think that an award-winning professor wouldn't need this kind of attention.
I just think that some people over think things. You HAVE to have fractions to be able to cook or to just do a building type of hobby. I just think that this guy is ridiculous. :) i have to write an essay about this subject. tell me if you have any suggestions