There was an education column in our big state newspaper yesterday that had a headline:

Standards Kill Creativity

I don't get very far reading it before I start sputtering and my brain turns to jelly. I guess this is their new plan of attack. Our state is now pushing for "minds-on, hands-on" learning of math and science.

-- SteveH - 03 Oct 2005

I believe we can safely conclude that, in the view of Wayne Wickelgren, math homework should look exactly like math.

-- CatherineJohnson - 28 Sep 2005

This is nearly identical to what E.D.Hirsch wrote in the layman friendly You Can Always Look It Up — Or Can You? and Neglecting the Early Grades.

And, is it any wonder that the much-despised curriculum that most faithfully implements these principles, Direct Instruction, consistently outperforms those that do not?

-- KDeRosa - 28 Sep 2005

"You mean, math homework should look like... math???"

Oh, surely not.

-- CarolynJohnston - 28 Sep 2005

To check that your child's teacher is focusing on math fundamentals, look at your child's homework. It should include lots of math problems to which there are single, correct answers, and no artwork or writing.

You mean, math homework should look like... math???

-- IndependentGeorge - 28 Sep 2005

Oh, I would like to say:

e^(amen to that) !!

-- ChrisAdams - 28 Sep 2005

Wickelgren on creativity

Ken's & Carolyn's posts, Tour de force and On having a math brain, are companion pieces, and, reading them back-to-back, I see that it's time for me to get Wayne Wickelgren's work posted.

I'll try to get that done today, and am re-reading Math Coach now. But I'm stopping to post this observation:

Creativity is an outgrowth of learning, and a lot of it. The past twenty-five years of cognitive psychology research has shown that the more a person knows about a subject, the more creative he or she can be in it. No question an adult poses is considered creative if someone else has already asked it. Thus, an adult must know what has come before to ask creative questions.

This is true more generally as well. A student's ability to be creative in any area of knowledge increases with his or her knowledge of that area. Knowledge forms the fodder for creative new ideas.

sterling advice

I can feel my day getting Sucked Up in pursuit of Wickelgrenisms. Here's another, from his section on how to evaluate your school's math curriculum:

To check that your child's teacher is focusing on math fundamentals, look at your child's homework. It should include lots of math problems to which there are single, correct answers, and no artwork or writing.

all Wickelgren, all the time!

If your child is now struggling with math or scoring only in the average range in his or her classes, focus on helping your child master the math taught in each grade. Mastery means getting As or the equivalent in math.