kitchen table math, the sequel: Good Teaching More Important To Learning Mathematics Than Vision

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Good Teaching More Important To Learning Mathematics Than Vision

I've just read an interesting article by T. V. Raman. Raman is a blind computer scientist who works for Google; however, he started out as a mathematician.

The article is Thinking Of Mathematics—An Essay On Eyes-free Computing.

I especially liked this quote.

"But to do higher-level mathematics, one first needs to do elementary mathematics, and I believe that it is even more important to find the right kind of help when one is beginning to learn. ...The challenge of gaining access to higher-level mathematics might appear to be the more complex ... [as compared with finding a good teacher]; however I believe that proper access at the introductory level is far more critical, since good access at this stage ensures that a student with the necessary mathematical aptitude remains within the field to go on and solve the challenges that lie beyond. "