Sunday, July 23, 2017

Memorization and Creativity

I'm tired of hearing that memorizing certain things (multiplication facts, the quadratic formula, the Pythagorean Theorem) impedes "creativity" in students.  If this were true, back in the 90s--when "rote memorization" was expunged from California's math standards--we'd have had the most creative students on the planet!

I'm on an email list populated by people who seem to share a more traditional view of math education.  One of the members of that list is Wayne Bishop of CSU Los Angeles, who gave me permission to repost his words here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/14/immigrants-are-42-percent-of-californias-stem-workforce/



A persuasive indictment of US education, especially STEM preparedness.  It is particularly ironic in that our professional mathematics education community continues to insist that its aversion to memorization of anything stimulates creativity in mathematics as opposed to bringing along far too many children - especially children from low socioeconomic, low education communities - being DOA by algebra if not long before.
Believing that melanin in the skin presents a genetic predisposition to do poorly in math is not doing anyone any favors, either.

6 comments:

Pseudotsuga said...

Same problem in the language arts curriculum -- grammar is RACISS! Good spelling is not a measure of good writing! Self expression using cultural mores and traditions is diverse and wonderful!
(This is how we get the over-educated numbskulls at the University of Washington writing center declaring that American grammar is "racist" and an "unjust language structure." Yeah...that'll really help your diverse student body get and hold a job, if they no kan spell or doing grammer because raciss and nonjustice....)

Ellen K said...

I wish I could find it, but I read an article that said that rote memorization of certain lists, tasks or names used a different part of the brain than reliance on a calculator or other device. I was a New Math victim and I learned multiplication by rote. As a result I can do a great deal of practical math in my head, reserving devices for more complex uses. My kids, one of whom regularly annoyed his math teachers by knowing the answers to all the questions and sleeping through class, are also skilled at math, but not in the same way. I think we are using up the time that would be better used for creativity and innovation in figuring out the methods which seems to me like reinventing the wheel. I do not need to know how a stove works in order to cook an elegant meal. So why is it so important that we lead children through recreating every formula when simply knowing a formula is enough? I will say that within my discipline, Visual Arts, the amount and depth of innovation and skill has dwindled.

Mike Thiac said...

"... It is particularly ironic in that our professional mathematics education community continues to insist that its aversion to memorization of anything stimulates creativity in mathematics as opposed to bringing along far too many children - especially children from low socioeconomic, low education communities - being DOA by algebra if not long before...."

Darren, can you imagine the s$%^ storm is anyone said something similar about tendency to violence, etc., based on skin color?

Ellen K said...

It boggles the mind that educrats would eliminate entire areas of learning simply because one demographic subgroup is unsuccessful, but that's exactly what is happening. We removed cursive writing-which is a precursor of fine motor skills-because some students didn't want to take the time to learn the discipline. We now hear similar things about learning things by rote, homework and even testing. Now we've removed writing from the curriculum under the assumption that pointing and sending texts will do just fine. It 's been my experience that people rise to challenges if you expect them to. Unfortunately someone won't allow students to even make the attempt.

Caroline said...

Science teacher here. How can I join this type of listserv? Thanks for your fantastic blog. I'm in the SF Bay Area and us non-liberals are a very, very small minority here.

Darren said...

Caroline,

It's a closed list, my invite only. Email me at my yahoo address (easily determined from my profile).