Wrong Problem, Wrong Solution

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Wrong Problem, Wrong Solution
Roger Schank asks for the evidence that the math we teach is foundational and needed by high school graduates. "I always start any discussion on education by asking if the person I am talking with knows the quadratic formula. One out of hundred knows it" (me, I know what it is, but I'd have to look it up, not having used it in 30 years of frequently technical work). Schank says simply, "Lets get serious. We don't need more math and science. We need more people who can think. We need to teach job skills, people skills, and reasoning skills. And we need to make education exciting and interesting. We need performance tests not competence tests." the thing is, these things are pretty obvious - why is it such a hard sell. More...