"many children learn mathematics as a set of arcane rituals for manipulating symbols on paper, because they can't yet understand the abstract meanings of those symbols."
In the US?
I had pretty typical US public school education. Word problems and application were ubiquituous. Perhaps my experience is non-representative, or you like the study authors are speaking of other educational contexts (Asia).
In the US?
I had pretty typical US public school education. Word problems and application were ubiquituous. Perhaps my experience is non-representative, or you like the study authors are speaking of other educational contexts (Asia).