down with fractions

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Ive been arguing this for years!

  Math professor's book will argue against teaching fractions, long division.

  USA Today (1/24, 11D, Milford) reports, "A few years ago, Dennis DeTurck, an
  award-winning professor of mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania,
  stood at an outdoor podium on campus and proclaimed, 'Down with fractions!'"
  DeTurck, in a contribution to a 60-second lecture series, argued that
  fractions were "useful for by-hand calculation. But in this digital age,
  they're as obsolete as Roman numerals are." The speech was posted online,
  triggering a "firestorm" of discussion among educators. Now, DeTurck is
  scheduled to publish a book that argues for "the teaching of decimals over
  fractions to elementary school students." He also criticizes "long division,
  the calculation of square roots and by-hand multiplication of long numbers."
  DeTurck argues that "the study of fractions should be delayed until it can be
  understood, perhaps after a student learns calculus."

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