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This adds up
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:39 pm
by Gob
Every child will be expected to know their times tables before leaving primary school from next year.
Pupils will be tested against the clock on their tables up to 12x12 in new computer-based exams that the Department of Education (DfE) said were part of the government’s “war on innumeracy and illiteracy”.
The education secretary, Nicky Morgan, said: “Maths is a non-negotiable of a good education. Since 2010, we’ve seen record numbers of 11-year-olds start secondary school with a good grasp of the three Rs. But some continue to struggle.
“That is why, as part of our commitment to extend opportunity and deliver educational excellence everywhere we are introducing a new check to ensure that all pupils know their times tables by age 11.
“They will help teachers recognise those pupils at risk of falling behind and allow us to target those areas where children aren’t being given a fair shot to succeed.”
Last year, 87% of pupils achieved the required level - four or above - in mathematics before leaving primary school, up from 79% in 2010. Morgan has previously said that the government wants to ensure that every pupil, as well as knowing their times tables by heart, is able to perform long division and complex multiplication by the age of 11.
When the targets were first mooted, Labour and the unions derided them as a political stunt. The National Association of Headteachers said they would lead to unfair sacking of teachers, when children failed as a result of extenuating circumstances unrelated to the quality of education they were receiving.
Labour has accused the Tories of undermining progress by allowing untrained teachers to work in schools.
The new tests will see children complete multiplication challenges on-screen, which will be scored instantly. The DfE said it was the first use of such technology in national curriculum tests.
Morgan has said she also wants every pupil to be able to read a novel by the age of 11, and to write a short story with accurate punctuation, spelling and grammar.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... -by-age-11
Re: This adds up
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:47 pm
by Econoline
...new computer-based exams...
The DfE said it was the first use of such technology in national curriculum tests.
Oooohh! COMPUTERS! TECHNOLOGY!
I'm sure that'll make everything
much better...
Re: This adds up
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:48 pm
by rubato
The maths illiteracy which really hurts people is the kind which leads them to take payroll loans, variable-rate mortgages, and carry a credit-card balance.
I don't think being able to multiply numbers accurately will help with any of those.
On the up side they have identified a narrow skill set which nearly everyone can have, which is easily measured, and focused energy on it which is a good thing. So good for them and good luck with it.
Compound interest can come later on.
yrs,
rubato
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:08 am
by Gob
rubato wrote:The maths illiteracy which really hurts people is the kind which leads them to take payroll loans, variable-rate mortgages, and carry a credit-card balance.
You don't see many primary school, (i.e. under 11 years old,) kids applying for those.
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:16 am
by Lord Jim
Gob wrote:rubato wrote:The maths illiteracy which really hurts people is the kind which leads them to take payroll loans, variable-rate mortgages, and carry a credit-card balance.
You don't see many primary school, (i.e. under 11 years old,) kids applying for those.
Not as a general rule, no....
And if you don't learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, at a guess I'd say you're probably far more likely to fall prey to those problems later in life, when they might be an issue...
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:08 pm
by dgs49
"...times tables..."?
Are you shitting me? Are they related to the "g'zinta's"? As in "Four g'zinta sixteen four times"?
On this continent we refer to them as "multiplication tables."
Multiplication tables have been a pedagogical conundrum for generations in the U.S. The teachers are wary of forcing our chilluns to MEMORIZE anything, because memorization is merely ROTE learning, which is, by definition, BAD. So "we" have tried all sorts of variations in order to avoid actually forcing the Little Ones to memorize the products of the various number combinations, one through 12. We thought that the era of calculators would resolve the issue, but alas...
The rubato-person makes a good point. Even students who know their "times tables" seem unable to grasp some seemingly simple realities, e.g., it is unwise to borrow a hundred thousand dollars in order to secure a B.A. in "Ethnic Studies."
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:01 pm
by Fafhrd
My spouse and I were always a bit worried about our oldest daughter in school. Her teachers told us that she didn't pay attention. So, when she got to fifth grade, we went to out first teacher conference with a bit of trepidation. The teacher, however said, "No problem with her! She was the first child in the class to know all of her multiplication tables." And from there on, she applied herself and we had no further problems. Phew!
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:09 pm
by rubato
Gob wrote:rubato wrote:The maths illiteracy which really hurts people is the kind which leads them to take payroll loans, variable-rate mortgages, and carry a credit-card balance.
You don't see many primary school, (i.e. under 11 years old,) kids applying for those.
Education is like vaccination; something you do to prepare for the future.
I don't think 11 is too early to start teaching children how economic decisions when iterated over years can have very different life outcomes.
yrs,
rubato
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 9:07 pm
by oldr_n_wsr
I remember learning the multi-tables in 3rd grade (8yo). I only remember that because I got the 12 times table wrong and had to write the 12 times table on cue cards. Miss Aufschlaeger was the teacher and she was hot. I would have written any times table for her.
Re: This adds up
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:59 pm
by Gob
dgs49 wrote:"...times tables..."?
Are you shitting me? Are they related to the "g'zinta's"? As in "Four g'zinta sixteen four times"?
On this continent we refer to them as "multiplication tables."
Yes and? You do many of things in a very strange and illiterate manner.
Re: This adds up
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 12:26 am
by datsunaholic
We called them "times tables" when I was a kid. That is, in the 80s. And that was at a highly regarded Catholic grade school.
We learned them in 2nd or 3rd grade. I hated them. Anything that was rote memorization made no sense, which added to my problems in mathematics later in life when you needed to remember equations. If I had the equations all there, I could easily remember what they were FOR, I just couldn't remember very many of them outright. So I would typically do a brain dump on the scratch paper of every equation I could remember before a test started, because once I hit the first question the equations would disappear from my memory. So I got poor (for me) scores in Algebra, worse in Geometry, but did absolutely fine in Trig, Physics, and Calculus. Why? Because they gave us equation sheets before the tests in those subjects. If I had the equations, I knew which one were the right ones to use. I could APPLY the math, I just couldn't remember the equations.
As for the times tables, I still don't know them the way you are supposed to. I can recite them, because going up or down each table is simple addition/subtraction which I can do fast enough to mask that I'm actually doing addition instead of reciting from memory. I was able to memorize the 2, 5, and 9 (1 and 10 being obvious) multipliers, so anything else is a walk up, walk down from there. 7 is the hardest because it's 2 steps from the 5 and 9 foundations I'd built.
But not in my head properly. I was too self conscious to visibly count on my fingers so I came up with an alternate method, which took years before a teacher called my on it. My worksheets were always covered with little dots. Because I was counting with them. It's the only way I can add up more then 2 numbers at a time.
Re: This adds up
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 2:41 am
by Crackpot
I withdrew from calculus since I couldn't remember and didn't supply the many identities formulas etc. I got the concept fine I just couldn't remember the formulas I hadn't used since trig and oddly percalc did not touch on those subjects. I had planned to go back to calc once I got a refresher on what I needed to know but since pre-calc (at least how it was taught in my college) didn't prep me for what I needed in calc and I only needed the one math credit for my degree I decided to give it a pass
Re: This adds up
Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 10:27 pm
by Scooter
oldr_n_wsr wrote:I remember learning the multi-tables in 3rd grade (8yo).
So do I. And we called them both multiplication tables and times tables, regardless of what Mr. Snooty Pants thinks of it.