So many people have asked me about the US “math wars” during my recent visit, that I thought I’d comment in a blog, rather than repeat myself over and over again. Briefing for those not in the US: there is open warfare between “reformers” and “non-reformers” of math education. The latest round is ostensibly over whether “data science” should be accepted as an alternative to traditional subjects like “algebra II” for admission to top colleges.
Read MoreI characterise the computational or maths process as 4 step. (If you haven’t come across this central theme of The Math(s) Fix before, here’s a quick description). And the central problem with our mainstream maths education has been the failure to recognise that step 3—compute—has been almost completely taken over by computers in real life…and that totally changes the what, when and how.
Read MoreFor once I'm not talking about the contents of school maths but the name and its associations.
The question I'm asking is if our core technical subject wasn't termed "maths" but "nicebrand" would things go better in and out of education?
Sadly, I've started to conclude the answer is yes. I now suspect that using the brand of maths is damaging core technical education, its reform, and efforts to equip society for the AI age.
Believe me, this is not the conclusion I want. I've spent years of my life somehow connected with the word "maths". But much as I might not like my conclusion, I want the essence of subject maths to succeed; so I don't want the name to kill the subject—a much worse outcome.
Read MoreEarlier this week I was part of a high-level discussion about maths and computer science education, how we could improve their reach and effectiveness. Rather quickly the question of evidence came up, and its role in driving innovation.
It's taken me a few days to realise that there were actually two very different "importance of evidence" conversations--one with which I completely concur, and one with which I vehemently disagree. In the end, what I believe this exposes is a failure of many in charge of education to understand how major innovation usually happens--whether innovation in science, technology, business or education--and how "evidence" can drive effective innovation rather than stifle it. In an age of massive real-world change, the correct and rapid reflection of this in education is crucial to future curricula, their effective deployment, and achieving optimisation for the right educational outcomes.
Read MoreTraditional areas of maths like algebra, calculus or trig don't seem a good way to think about subdividing the subject in the modern world. You might ask, why subdivide at all? In a sense, you shouldn't. The expert mathematician utilises whichever maths areas helps them solve the problem at hand. Breadth and ingenuity of application is often key.
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