Delete comment from: Stevey's Blog Rants
it really is nonsensical to teach a division algorithm to pupils if they forget it shortly after the test on the subject. there has to be a page in the textbook that just lists the individual steps of the algorithm, because there are people who are good at rote memorisation and will actually remember it forever and be able to use it if the need ever arises. but how probable is that? it's still nifty to have people who can do math on paper around, in case someone drops an h-bomb on your country, all electronic calculators are destroyed and you have to deal with the logistics of distributing the now scarce supplies.
but it's much more important to explain why and how the algorithm works. firstly, because there are other "learning types"; people who can't remember a list of seemingly arbitrary computational steps easily, but will be able to perform the calculation effortlessly once they 'get' it. and secondly, and that's the important part, because this provides you with actual insight into the subject matter and builds problem solving skills that you can make good use of every single day in your life.
i don't recall the lessons in school when i was told how to do long division, or which trigonometric functions to apply to which triangles, or which combinatorial functions to apply to which problems. but if i had to do any of this right now, i could easily figure it out, because it's nothing more complicated than middle school math.
maybe it's true that "math is a lot easier to pick up after you know how to program." (maybe it's also true that programming is a lot easier to pick up after you know your math.) but suggesting in the same writeup to use the simplest possible (and mind-numbingly tedious) algorithm to perform a division doesn't quite drive that point home. if you're a computer scientist, or even just a comp-sci student in the first year, doing this would be downright idiotic. you're supposed to be able to make up a better algorithm on the spot.
there sure are some things in that entry that ring true to me. however, i am definitely not taking someone serious who labels primary school material "annoyingly complicated". something every 10-year-old is expected to understand simply isn't "annoyingly complicated", even if there are better ways to teach it.
Mar 18, 2006, 12:54:00 AM
Posted to Math For Programmers