kitchen table math, the sequel: Onward and upward

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Onward and upward

In The Economist:
Estonia’s government has commissioned Mr Wolfram’s consultancy in Oxfordshire to modernise maths courses for secondary-school pupils. Starting this month, it will pilot lessons built around open-ended problems which have no single solution. One example: “What’s the best algorithm for picking a romantic date?” (Possible answer: go on more dates with a lower quality threshold to maximise the chance of success.) Another: “Am I drunk?”, which leads into quantitative analysis involving body masses, rates of alcohol absorption and other variables.

Time for a Ceasefire | Feb 1st 2014 | SHANGHAI AND TEL AVIV

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