- Joined
- Dec 9, 2000
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think about it like this, theres two ways to teach someone how to solve some gay maths problem. A) make them do it repetitively until they have no choice but to follow a pattern when confronted with such a problem B) or give them the necessity to find a solution, so they understand the why of the solution. option B sounds like how egg there seems to work, the way of industry seems to suggest that option A is the most profitable ...
Well, I work in third level education and we talk to employers all the time about what they want in graduates and they always mention that they want people with problem solving skills, team working skills, flexibility and all that stuff, so the industry (or at least the industry that the third level sector feeds) is not as backward in that regard as you might think. As time goes on I become more and more convinced that the actual shit you teach people is not that relevant .. what's way more important is how you do it, what kind of experience are you giving them, and whether that experience is positive and (barf alert) empowering or not. Obviously most of the time it's not unfortunately.
On another note - no creativity in maths? No way Jose. Solving complex maths problems involves the most brain melting thinking outside, inside, in between, and all around the box, you can possibly imagine.