A recent Associated Press poll tells us something that we should already know: while many people enjoyed math as a subject, many others, 4 in 10 according to this article, hated it.
People in this country have a love-hate relationship with math, a favorite school subject for some but just a bad memory for many others, especially women.
Nothing more is said in the article for why women have "bad memories" of math. But lest we suffer a Larry Summers fate, we best not explore they "whys" of this phenomenon. But I digress...
In an AP-AOL News poll as students head back to school, almost four in 10 adults surveyed said they hated math in school, a widespread disdain that complicates efforts Tuesday to catch up with Asian and European students. Twice as many people said they hated math as said that about any other subject.
... Recent studies have suggested 15-year-olds in the United States lag behind those of the same age in Europe and Asia in math. Young people in many countries are stronger in the important subject of science, as well. Both subjects are critical in research, innovation and economic competitiveness.
My sister and her family lived in Geneva, Switzerland for 3 years. Her son, now 10, went to a private school while he was there and while still in grade school, he was learning algebra, a subject that I didn't begin to learn until 8th or 9th grade. They moved back to the US late last year and my nephew is much-farther along at math than his classmates.
Then there was this:
Compared with students overseas, students in this country tend to be stronger in math in elementary school and move progressively behind as they get into high school. Peterson said she thinks high school teachers aren't as inclined to nurture student's interest in a challenging subject like math.
As the anecdote about my nephew suggests, the problem starts way before high school - back in elementary school. It isn't as if students suddenly become inferior at math when they hit a certain age. The change is gradual. Another factor that probably exacerbates the problem is that that the teachers aren't inclined to know much math themselves.
The key to making children interested in math is to capture their imaginations at a young age, said Dianne Peterson, a fifth grade math teacher from Merritt Island, Fla. While she must spend part of her class time with basic tasks like multiplication tables and fractions, she tries to make it fun.
Having fun is fine, but it's also important, maybe more so, that teachers come into the profession with a solid background in the subjects they will teach. Instead, they have backgrounds in teaching methods and we can debate whether these backgrounds are solid.