Questions tagged [new-math]
For questions about the New Math school reforms introduced in the United States and Europe during the 1960s.
11
questions
1
vote
1answer
196 views
Did Americans, before new math came in to schools, really say, 'three from two is nine carry the one", instead of borrowing ten from the tens column?
Tom Lehrer claims and the audience seems to agree with him that the 'old way', before new math to do subtraction was to say, for example, 'three from two is nine carry the one'. I never heard of this ...
4
votes
2answers
319 views
Have there been attempts to base early math education on category theory?
The New Math curriculum built math eduction on set theory. Have there been any attempts to do something similar with category theory?
I was fortunate to grow up in a relatively enlightened ...
12
votes
1answer
313 views
Where can I find primary sources from the New Math movement in the 60s?
I'm interested in learning about the New Math movement from a historical perspective. I've located some secondary sources about the topic, mainly parodies, highly critical restrospective articles, or ...
5
votes
1answer
252 views
SMSG Materials Available
Do you know anyone or any institution interested in accepting a donation of a relatively complete set of SMSG Materials?
I post offering to donate a small collection of School Mathematics Study Group ...
5
votes
0answers
193 views
SMSG Calculus Usage?
Did anyone out there have experience with SMSG's Calculus text? Our school system (Amherst, MA) used SMSG texts from my 6th grade class onward. But for HS Calculus (1969) we didn't use the two-part ...
10
votes
2answers
1k views
What on earth was Old Math?
I'd like to able to follow discussions/arguments about maths education, but many of them revolve around the transition to new math.
I was taught in the UK in the early 90s, and none of the examples ...
13
votes
0answers
324 views
Was math education following a western trend?
After some research on the recent history of math education in the U.S., from the new math movement to the beginning of the 21st century, I understood that the historic flow of the math education ...
13
votes
2answers
841 views
SMSG: Did any school districts actual teach the curriculum as planned and what were the results for the teachers and students?
I was introduced to the SMSG math curriculum at Topeka High School between 1965 and 1966. my recollection (somewhat defective for medical reasons) was that the Topeka (KS) school system rolled the ...
9
votes
2answers
659 views
What caused the (relatively) recent popularity of set theory?
When I was growing up during the 1960s, "set builder notation" constituted a large part of what was then the "new math."
Question: When and why did "set theory" become popular in math education? ...
27
votes
7answers
7k views
What was the problem with New Math? Why did it end?
During the 60s, people in the US (and also in Europe), school curricula introduces New Math where students began with set theory in the first grade before learning to perform addition or ...
17
votes
9answers
3k views
Was there an SMSG (New Math) "Algebra 2" text?
This question has been kicking around in the back of my head for a couple of years, but the impetus to post it now came from reading the related question at When did the American school system's ...
