The HN crowd probably knows that understanding maths concepts is a very rewarding experience. It is also very useful for $Nth grade, because it allows you to apply the principles to different problems than the ones you've seen solved.
However, if you try teaching a "bad at maths" kid how to solve a quadratic equation, explaining how to factorize and why it works is a bad strategy. They _prefer_ using the formula IME. They don't want to understand the concepts, they want to pass their exams, and rote memorizing the formula is a faster/more reliable way to do it.
I'll admit that maybe I'm just a bad teacher. After all, I'm not a teacher, I'm a CS grad who has done some teaching.
But think of the average class, with 40 students. The teacher needs all of them to learn to perform some tasks. He'll choose the one-size-fits all solution, even if it's less beautiful, less motivating for the kids that find maths to be fun.
I'm not saying we should go back to having schools for "gifted kids". They have well-documented problems, and I'm not at all qualified to pick one side of the tradeoff. All I'm saying is that boring biology classes are there for a reason, not just teachers without passion.
However, if you try teaching a "bad at maths" kid how to solve a quadratic equation, explaining how to factorize and why it works is a bad strategy. They _prefer_ using the formula IME. They don't want to understand the concepts, they want to pass their exams, and rote memorizing the formula is a faster/more reliable way to do it.
I'll admit that maybe I'm just a bad teacher. After all, I'm not a teacher, I'm a CS grad who has done some teaching.
But think of the average class, with 40 students. The teacher needs all of them to learn to perform some tasks. He'll choose the one-size-fits all solution, even if it's less beautiful, less motivating for the kids that find maths to be fun.
I'm not saying we should go back to having schools for "gifted kids". They have well-documented problems, and I'm not at all qualified to pick one side of the tradeoff. All I'm saying is that boring biology classes are there for a reason, not just teachers without passion.