‘Fuzzy math’ does not add up

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007

‘Fuzzy math’ does not add up

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As a former math teacher in Frederick County Public Schools, I have a strong interest in the recent discussion of the problems with the math curriculum in our state and county, and wish to provide parents with an explanation of some of the vocabulary that educationists use to mislead some parents into thinking their children are getting a solid math education.

Many parents may not realize that the kind of math Maryland public schools are teaching their children bears little resemblance to the math they may have learned.

Starting in the late 1990s, schools across the country began to adopt trendy approaches to teaching math that have been called “fuzzy math“ for their lack of substantive content. Fuzzy math pervades the math curriculum in today’s schools.

The proponents of fuzzy math claim that the new approach provides a “deep conceptual understanding.“

Those words, however, hide the truth. Students today are not expected to master basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication. These fundamental skills are necessary for a truly deep understanding of math, but fuzzy math advocates are masters at using vocabulary that sounds good to parents, but means something different to educators.

Once parents realize what is happening, they are often outraged.

For instance, fuzzy math advocates talk about “problem solving,” which means endless activities that have little to do with math or logical thinking, and “constructing meaning,“ which means students receive less instruction from the teacher and more time “discovering“ math for themselves through various projects.

The reality is that students often “discover“ misconceptions that could have been avoided through a few minutes of direct instruction from their teacher.

In fuzzy math, schools touch on an enormous number of topics per year, but don't give students time to understand them fully.

Nick Diaz, Middletown