topodigital (October 11, 2008 at 6:10 pm)

i agree the cluster method encourages thinking more than learning the algorith just as it is

KippTheKidd (October 11, 2008 at 1:29 pm)

I showed the video to my son. I don't see what you mean at all. He liked the table method, but after some practice, he's making real headway with cluster problems. The down-side to it is that he can do a lot of the cluster math in his head; when he does it wrong, I have no idea where he went wrong.On top of that, he HATES the traditional method.

Gplex (October 11, 2008 at 8:50 am)

try teaching a kid those other methods... and you'll see what I mean.

KippTheKidd (October 11, 2008 at 12:53 am)

They don't look more complex to me. To a kid who isn't familiar with ANY method, these are fine substitutions. On top of that, their mechanism is different... I think the cluster problems are great for learning; you can use simple things you know to learn and solve more complex things.It takes some time to learn and understand, but it could be much more beneficial than the standard methods.

Gplex (October 10, 2008 at 11:51 pm)

but they are not doing that, they are showing more complex ways of working out the same simple problem.

KippTheKidd (October 10, 2008 at 2:04 pm)

Agreed, and well-put. I don't care how it's done, as long as our kids are skilled enough to solve the problems... The more algorithms they have to choose out of their toolbox, the better.

KippTheKidd (October 10, 2008 at 2:03 pm)

Meanwhile, the rest of the world teaches a variety of methods on more complex problems, shakes out the bugs, uses calculators to solve simple problems, and their kids grow up to use effective tools and be productive, while ours are stuck in the last century.The method doesn't really matter. We should be teaching kids how to figure things out, work out bugs, and learn how to learn... otherwise, they're stuck in tomorrow's world, only knowing how to do what we taught them today.

Darkgravx12 (October 10, 2008 at 10:36 am)

that's what learning mathematics is about anyway right? Learn *ALL* the basics / facts about it, instead of being narrow-minded and only instructing half the facts instead of all the facts and methods. some students maybe not get it on their own or never TRY to investigate it on their own for that matter.

Darkgravx12 (October 10, 2008 at 10:34 am)

Yes, I realize that, I never said it was too complex to learn. I was only pointing out that the line method has always been dependable and easiest to learn - teachers so still start with that method at least, before anything else. Or perhaps display all three and let the student decide which one is easiest for him/her to use.

Gplex (October 10, 2008 at 7:25 am)

Problem with adding in new methods is that you are gambling with the kids future... only change something if it no longer works, else you will being dealing with the 10 or so years where people will be playing around trying to get rid off all the "bugs" in the new teaching system.