Is this Math fuzzy?

BY CARALEE ADAMS
Caralee is the editor of Parent Power! magazine. Parent Power! is published eight times a year by The Center for Education Reform. This article appeared in the August 2001 edition.
http://www.edreform.com/_upload/01august.pdf

Fuzzy Math is one of the phrases used to refer to the many newer mathematics programs that are designed around current fads in mathematics education and often are inadequate for effective learning. The word fuzzy is used in the sense of warm and fuzzy or fuzzy thinking, and does not refer to advanced topics like fuzzy logic.

Fuzzy Math programs are those that emphasize process over content (and even correct answers), and are deficient in mathematical breadth and depth.

Fuzzy Math takes many forms, but here are some of the varieties.

No text book - Publishers are selling instructional materials, including overheads, software, dice, spinners, and blocks instead of textbooks, which have clear explanations, worked out examples, and practice problems.

MTV - Characterized by lots of color and pictures that often have no relationship to the mathematics and do not contribute to learning, parents are right to worry that students cannot hear the mathematics amid all of the noise.

PC - These programs often include politically correct lessons in math class, such as writing essays about how to save the trees or the whales. Grades may be biased on political correctness, not math skills and knowledge.

Discover-It-Yourself - Based on the idea that children learn what they discover on their own, this approach avoids giving direct instruction to students. It takes longer for students to learn this way, so less material is covered, and great demands are placed on teachers and their mathematical knowledge.

Guesswork - Many of these programs promote guessing (rather than knowing) and spend considerable time on this process. They encourage students to work on problems that they have no idea how to solve and discourage practicing methods to mastery.

Anti-Algorithm – These books may talk about “many ways to multiply” but fail to cover the traditional method. Often, they encourage the use of calculators and pay little attention to manual computation.

Project and Investigation - Students often spend great deal of time on non-mathematical aspects of working on projects. Sometimes, a group of four students may spend a week on a project that requires just one student to solve a few simple problems.

Group Learning and Group Testing - In groups, the quicker students often do the work and the slower ones go along for the ride. Group learning and group testing help to equalize grades and thus students who fail to learn can pass their classes anyway.

Integrated Content - Some argue that mathematical topics, such as algebra and geometry, should not be taught in isolation. In practice, the mathematical development becomes so mixed up that it is impossible to tell what children should learn at any given time. Accountability becomes impractical, and achievement can to suffer.

Write About It – Based on the idea that students should be able to explain their math, precious time is spent writing essays that have very little mathematics content. In some cases, most of the math they do involves figuring out margins and spacing on the word processor.

If fuzzy math has invaded your world, the first thing to do is to figure out what your children should be learning. See the grade level standards in California (http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/math.html) for help or go to http://www.mathematicallycorrect. com. Next, look for less fuzzy materials children can use at home and at school to meet these goals. Stay involved with your children’s math and their progress toward the goals for each grade level. This is no easy task, but it is the only way to be sure of real success.