kitchen table math, the sequel: ask the instructivist

Sunday, February 25, 2007

ask the instructivist

Constructivism is to education what creationism is to science.
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6 comments:

Instructivist said...

Linda Moran has a thoughtful post on the false dichotomies so often encountered in journalistic writing about the math wars.

From it I picked up this great line: Math instruction needs to return to some kind of building block order instead of spiraling like a tornado, leaving devastation in its wake.

Another education quotes candidate.

Also, thanks Catherine for highlighting my quote.

February 25, 2007 at 2:07 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

That IS wonderful!

February 25, 2007 at 2:54 PM
SteveH said...

DI is the opposite of ID.

DI relates to science.

ID relates to belief.

How about a word analogy?

Constructivism : creationism
as
Direct Instruction : evolution


Definition of Irony - The ones who grasp so tightly to constructivism are the ones most likely to abhor Intelligent Design.

February 25, 2007 at 7:23 PM
Forty-two said...

Just as an fyi, ID and creationism aren't the same thing.

ID believes in some sort of creator, but doesn't specify what kind. It could be the Judeo-Christian God, Gaia, Star Trek's Prometheans, etc. Most ID scientists believe in evolution.

On the other hand, creationism is a strictly religious belief. Creationists believe in a literal six-day creation and a young earth.

February 26, 2007 at 10:21 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

Thanks, 42!

I'm reading Owen Gingerich at the moment - though I gather he's not an ID person, either....

February 27, 2007 at 6:35 AM
Anonymous said...

Isn't it the other way around? Constructivist thinking is that giving some unknown period of (random?) thrashing, intelligent algorithms will just naturally fall into the lap of children who will see their value because they are "fitter" at answering problems than other ways.

It's those Intelligent Designers who say that the most elegant algorithms are the product of mature Minds, coming from a math culture that goes back before Euclid, and we would be unwise to wait for children to regenerate it by chance.

--rocky

September 23, 2008 at 5:12 PM

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