Pages

▼

Monday, May 28, 2007

Taking "male" bias out of math

I got a good laugh out of this clip from the Simpsons

I don't know if it is still being seriously argued in some feminist quarters that it is necessary to take the "male" bias out of math to make math accessible to girls. In my own experience teaching math to middle graders, I find that girls do very well with real math, for the most part better than boys.

In any event, the clip is funny at least as a museum piece.




Hat tip: Mindless Math Mutterings
at

3 comments:

  1. Catherine JohnsonMay 28, 2007 at 9:28 AM

    Christopher LOVES that episode.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BeckyCMay 28, 2007 at 12:08 PM

    Oh my God! I was wrong, and by being corrected... I learned! And no one cared about my feelings!

    Was it through JoanneJacobs that I recently read how not to talk to your kids?

    ReplyDelete
  3. BeckyCMay 28, 2007 at 12:22 PM

    I apologize if this has already been blogged at KTM:

    Psychologist Wulf-Uwe Meyer, a pioneer in the field, conducted a series of studies where children watched other students receive praise. According to Meyer’s findings, by the age of 12, children believe that earning praise from a teacher is not a sign you did well—it’s actually a sign you lack ability and the teacher thinks you need extra encouragement. And teens, Meyer found, discounted praise to such an extent that they believed it’s a teacher’s criticism—not praise at all—that really conveys a positive belief in a student’s aptitude.

    ReplyDelete