One educator wants to revolutionize the way math is taught. Andrew Hacker, who has taught political science at Queens College for 45 years, is working on a math course for college students he calls “adult arithmetic,” which focuses on facility with numbers and statistics instead of calculus or algebra. He also believes that it is not necessary for high school students to learn many different math subjects.
Andrew Hacker believes math is the most important thing in society. Do you agree with him?
Controversial “adult arithmetic” focuses on real world math.
Hacker believes that the current focus on a number of different subjects is misguided because these subjects often do not come up in daily life. For example, while those applying to veterinary school are required to learn algebra, they use computation in their veterinary work instead. This “adult arithmetic” course is controversial, however, and most media sources and math educators believe that learning a variety of subjects is still critical.
In that commentary Hacker stipulated, “Mathematics, both pure and applied, is integral to our civilization.” He simply believes, he wrote, that for most students outside college-level STEM studies, defense of algebra, geometry and calculus is “largely or wholly wrong” and “based on wishful logic.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Key takeaways
- Steven T. Corneliussen writes about Andrew Hacker’s desire to change the way math is taught in the classroom.
- Hacker is teaching a new experimental course at Queens College in New York.
- This course utilizes adult arithmetic to analyze statistics, critically think, and compute.
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