

The mathematics we teach our kids… - zdw
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2015/03/09/the-mathematics-we-teach-our-kids/

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jeffreyrogers
I agree with most of this, however, I think rote memorization does have a role
in education. For example, one of the current difficulties I'm facing as I get
into more advanced mathematics is gaps in my knowledge of calculus and
manipulating sums. I know all the basics well, but when it comes to
integrating a difficult integral or finding the closed form of a tricky sum I
have trouble. And this is because my schooling focused too much on concepts
and not as much on the mechanical operations that mathematics requires. My
lack of facility with these operations has made learning theoretical
probability (which involves a lot of analysis) more difficulty than necessary.

You need both a repertoire of mechanical skills (typically acquired through
memorization and drilling) and a conceptual understanding of what you're doing
in order to do mathematics properly.

That said, I agree with the substance of the article, however.

