Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover

http://www.ted.com Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect -- and excel at -- paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. At TEDxNYED, Dan Meyer shows classroom-tested math exercises that prompt students to stop and think.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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[Xenuism]

In my school the best math teachers were only teaching the best students.The rest of us were lumped into shit classes run by the weakest teachers.I guess it was the schools way of deciding who the factory workers would be.

I can honestly say I have learned more new things in the last seven years on my own, then in my twelve years of public school.I spent my entire childhood thinking I was stupid, and lo and behold it turned out it was the education system itself that sucked.

[bninjabninja]

Teaching is an art, it's just like drawing or playing instruments. Not everyone can do it right.

[JLBsportsTV]

I wish I had a math teacher like this. I feel like I never passed math subjects like Pre-Calc or Algebra II, but just the textbook. There's a difference between acing a subject and a book.

[BiddaBiddaCherryPie]

Tell me about it. I barely scraped a C in school, after being thrown in the lowest classes throughout. Got forced into doing it at college(In Britain, that is ages 16-18 before university). and now I am achieving decent A grades in all my maths qualifications, and I am starting my mathematics degree in October.

[GenericUsernamelol]

Just thought you should know...Reddit has stumbled across your Raederle lecture, and your massive camel toe, lol.

[Raederle Phoenix]

This TED talk made me think. I love that! This actually makes me want to take a math class... From Dan! :)

[JulianEpsilon]

I think i'm fairly good at maths, I usually caught on fairly quickly. To me the only issues with this approach is that it makes the class more boring for the students which understand the concept with little effort - classes where you know most of the answers are the most boring. But i suppose this approach would make it easier for the less talented students... which is probably more important.

[1337flight]

cool

[starrecipe9]

Last thing...it's also a ton of fun. Now I know I chose to study math, but I still find math lectures boring most of the time. It's a lot of just cramming information into your brain, and if any questions arise then they are resolved in a matter of seconds. I actually struggle to stay awake sometimes, and that never happens in the class where we work on problems. I'm full of energy when I work on the problems, even when I'm really tired.

[starrecipe9]

Of course, what about the more mathematically mature students? I think that's where in-class open-ended exercises come in. I'm in a college math class where we work on problems during class. We don't all make the same amount of progress on the problem. Weak and strong students alike find themselves struggling at some stage, but everyone learns something. The point is the problem is appropriate for a very wide range of mathematical maturity. Stronger students just go deeper, but everyone learns.

[starrecipe9]

I've observed this myself, but there is something else I have observed. There are usually several students who struggle at just the basics. There are students who still struggle to plot points or subtract negative numbers. I think, even with a lot of material to cover, teachers should slow down and focus on the core ideas. Whizzing through 50 topics where 25% of your class didn't even master the basics sounds pointless to me. They clearly aren't learning it in that way.

[drummergirl428]

Hope I had him as my math teacher, math would definitely be less traumatic!