07-30-2010, 08:51 PM
SAT even allows calculators these days. As mentioned earlier, it's more about how and when the various fomulae are used/derived than how well they've been memorized.
As for understanding the underlying concepts, NCLB has made that a practical impossibility for many students and teachers over the last decade. The drive to "proficiency" has driven most conceptual learning right out the classroom door. Kids who understand the concepts have likely put them together on their own.
Georgia is one of the better states in that respect, at least there's still some understanding that in math conceptual understanding is just as important as the procedural variety. You have some world-class math ed brains at UGA.
As for understanding the underlying concepts, NCLB has made that a practical impossibility for many students and teachers over the last decade. The drive to "proficiency" has driven most conceptual learning right out the classroom door. Kids who understand the concepts have likely put them together on their own.
Georgia is one of the better states in that respect, at least there's still some understanding that in math conceptual understanding is just as important as the procedural variety. You have some world-class math ed brains at UGA.