Response to Math
Today I read the two Letters to the Editor on “Math Success: A National Issue (Oct. 13, 2011). I would like to comment on that article. I agree that mathematics education is a national issue for two reasons.
1. Many textbooks are written in passive voice. They use the ubiquitous pronoun “we,” and there are some confusing terms and windy sentences.
For example on passive voice:
= 2(x2 – 10x + 25 – 25) + 3
= 2(x2 – 10x + 25) – 50 + 3
= 2(x-5)2 – 47 (textbook version)
Textbook version with passive voice (from College Algebra by Dugopolski on p. 257): “Because of the 2 preceding parentheses, the second 25 was doubled when it was removed from the parentheses.”
My version with active voice: “Because of the ‘2’ outside of the parentheses, you must multiply 25 by 2.”
= 2(x2 – 10x + 25 -25(2)) +3
= 2(x2 – 10x + 25 – 50 + 3
= 2(x2-5)2 – 47 (my version)
So which version do you prefer for comprehension?
The textbook version has confounding words, “preceding,” “second,” “doubled,” and “removed.” Such words sidetracked me for a while before I finally figured out what they meant in the context. The sequence of steps of algebraic problem-solving is not clear to me.
My version uses active voice in the sentence. I use the pronoun that is directed to the reader – that is, the student – “you.” The sentence has five words less than the textbook sentence. I use quotation marks for the number ‘2’ for the purpose of alerting the reader what it does for the parentheses. I could use the bold face for it. Or, I could re-write in a different way: “Because the left outside number ‘2’ covers all the terms, including ‘-25,’ inside the parentheses, you must multiply that last term by 2.” The algebraic problem-solving procedure is clearer because I put the relevant numbers “25(2)” (25 multiplied by 2), and the number “50” in the second line.
2. Some teachers abbreviate too much on the blackboards. I recall my first algebra course last fall. Many students complained that the steps were not clear on the blackboard. Makes sense to me. In view of that, the famous American cultural anthropologist who spent a year with the natives in the South Pacific islands in 1925, Margaret Mead (1901-1978) stressed, “People are visual.” Visual information is non-verbal that goes with the verbal in oral communication.
I always believe that any student can learn from the textbook with minimal help from the tutors and teachers as long as the active voice is used throughout. The writers ought to re-write the sentences in active voice in an instructive manner. They ought to be market-wise to students’ great need to understand math better.
JIM CHLEBOUN, Student
