In defense of proper process: Reform methods lead to lost information and incorrect answers

Laurie Rogers:

Whenever I tutor students who were taught math via reform-math methods, one of the first things they have to do is learn a structured and consistent way to write down problems and calculations. Their experiences with reform math have left them with poor habits, leading to many errors and muddied understanding.

Repairing poor process isn't a small undertaking. By the time reform-math students get to middle school or high school, entire books of math content are missing and many poor habits are ingrained. Developing good habits, therefore, is Job One, and it takes months and months of reinforcement before an efficient process becomes habitual. (That's in addition to the actual math procedures, which also must be taught and learned.)

It's harder to "unteach" a poor process and replace it, than it is to teach an efficient process from the beginning. The "Law of Primacy" says students tend to learn best what they learned first - even if what they learned was wrong-headed. Once students learn something, they tend to go back to it, as a habit and an instinctive first reaction. This is why proper process should be taught from the beginning. Unteaching requires extra dedication, patience, diligence and consistency. It's hard work to change bad habits, but it can be done. And with mathematics, it must be done. It's so important to instill good habits and efficient methods. Clarity is critical to accuracy; students who wish to be accurate in math must be focused on clarity as they write down their work.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 1, 2012 2:07 AM
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