Math Education In US: Schools Should Change Procedural Teaching Of Math

U.S. struggles to keep up the rank in the PISA Survey with a 36^th rank in math out of 64 countries. Even though American students have been improving in the field of science and mathematics, the latest statistics suggest that the U.S. is still lagging internationally. 

According to the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment survey, reports were prepared on how world's students think about math. The study gave insights on strategies to help U.S. gear up the math education, with the next survey results expected to be announced this December.

The PISA 2012 assessment questioned U.S. teaching and learning methods of mathematics. It identified three types of individuals: the first type are students who are trying to learn methods "by heart," second type students are those who tackled new concepts relating to already learned concepts and the third type followed the self-monitoring approach, which routinely evaluated their own understanding and focused their attention on concepts they had not yet learned.

Memorization is common in the U.S., placing it to the third position and has the highest proportion of teens doing poorly on the PISA math assessment 2012. South Korea was thought to be a paradigm of rote or memorization learning but U.S. beats it with the number of memorizers it has.The reason for the increase in memorizers is the teaching methods adopted in American schools.

Due to the content load on teachers and lack of time, they do not explore math topics comprehensively. Some teachers teach math as a set of steps to memorize and apply, while few follow the actual method of teaching math: as an open, conceptual, inquiry-based subject.

John Urschel, a doctorate student in applied mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared his experiences, saying he thought math was boring and a waste of time when he was young. But he later realized that "math extends far past the confines of the classroom and into everyday life."

According to an article in Education Week by Urschel, "Math isn't just about calculations or memorizing formulas. Math is everywhere we look. It's in the science behind a perfect football spiral, the velocity of a game-winning three-point shot in basketball. It's in the ratio of ingredients you measure when you're cooking."

Students should have number sense - to use them creatively and easily, the Scientific American reported. The elementary schools adopt memorization of timetables and other math factors under time pressures that have caused "math anxiety."

Leading mathematicians Conrad Wolfram and Steven Strogatz stressed that math has been misrepresented in classrooms. Any aspiring math thinkers were turned away by the procedural teaching approach. To increase in PISA scores, U.S. schools must concentrate on math teaching methods - take it as a subject of open, visual, creative inquiry, accompanied by growth-mindset messages to engage students learning interests.