The UK needs a revolution in the way maths is taught. Here's why…

Learning by rote is not the answer – unlocking the creative power of problem-solving is what will enthuse British schoolchildren and make them world-class, argues mathematician Conrad WolframReading the headlines of outrage after international school maths tests showed Britain lagging far behind Asian countries, you might conclude that our children are bad at maths. But is this the case?Even if the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests decently reflect today's maths standards, I believe that simply trying to climb up the table is wrong.The problem is not the difference between Britain and Shanghai – which education minister Elizabeth Truss visited on a fact-finding mission last week – but the worldwide difference between maths in education and maths in the real world: everywhere, we are teaching largely the wrong maths.Here's why. In the real world we use computers for calculating, almost universally; in education we use people for calculating, almost universally.This growing chasm is a key reason why maths is so despised in education and yet so powerful and important in real life. We have confused rigour at hand-calculating with rigour for the wider problem-solving subject of maths – the necessary hand mechanics of past moments with the enduring essence of maths.At its heart, maths is the world's most successful system of problem solving. The point is to take real things we want to work out and apply, or invent, maths to get the answer. One exam...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: Analysis Mathematics Education policy China Features UK news The Observer Source Type: news