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Original poster

another question for sientific - mathematically minded people

21 replies

Tortington · 28/03/2006 12:16

do you just "not get" how other people don't get it?

my husband tried to teach me gcse level maths - and although i recognise that teaching in itself is a skill ( and he doesn't posess it) he just didn't get why i didn't get it.

OP posts:

Blandmum · 28/03/2006 12:17

Huh?

I can understand how people find it hard to understand. What I can't understand is why people don't find it interesting enough to asl the question!

Katymac · 28/03/2006 12:18

Unfortunatley yes

Esp with the "well I've explained it 3 times already" and "no I don't know a nother way to do it....I've shown you 4 different ways of getting the answer"

But it's easier with people you don't like and impossible with your DH/DD etc

Original poster

Tortington · 28/03/2006 12:19

i think science is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally interesting, but its usually not written about in an apealing way to the non scientifically minded.

so you do get why other people dont get it. hmm interesting

OP posts:

SorenLorensen · 28/03/2006 12:29

Ha, I clicked on this one too!

custardo, have you read A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson? It's a layperson's guide to popular science, very readable and completely fascinating.

As I was read it, though, I'd be completely amazed by what I was reading and make a mental note to tell dh about it (he's science minded). Then I'd say "hey I read in that Bill Bryson book...about...er...em..." and I wouldn't be able to tell him what I'd read because I could only get a handle on it as I was reading it - some of the ideas in it were so huge they made my brain ache.

Dh is not very good at explaining stuff either - he gets it and can't quite see why I can't. It's the same with maths - even though I'm rubbish at it I'm better at helping ds1 with maths homework than dh is, because he makes too many assumptions about what ds1 knows - and he goes too fast!

SorenLorensen · 28/03/2006 12:30

"As I was read it" - mmm, not that sh*t hot at English either it seems.

foxinsocks · 28/03/2006 12:31

I'm dreadful at explaining things but loved (and did very well at) maths and science at school/university (hence my thinking that you don't have to be brilliant at a subject to be able to teach it well).

I think the ability to teach is a skill in itself often separate to the ability to do exceptionally well in the actual subject you teach.

GDG · 28/03/2006 12:33

Yes. I find it all very logical and easy to understand and I do find it hard to see how other people don't 'get it'. Although, my mother can't understand how I can't possibly sew too - everyone is wired differently

bundle · 28/03/2006 12:35

sometimes it's communicated in the wrong way - by assuming too much knowledge. there are some very good science programmes on Radio 4, 9pm most evenings...(plug plug)

Blandmum · 28/03/2006 12:38

Knowing your subject very well doe help in teaching though.....because the greater your depth of understanding the easier you can 'spot' the areas that kids will find hard. I teach all 3 sciences up to the end of year 9. I am much better at biology because I know it better and can 'head them off at the pass' when they are about to get confused. I can do this is chemistry and physics, but not as well.

I can also make biology far more inetersting as I have more elevant real world expamles to give the kids....relevant factoids, if you like.

GDG · 28/03/2006 12:43

Biology my fave too MB - how can anyone not love it?! Fascinating!

Blandmum · 28/03/2006 12:43

I love it with a passion

eefs · 28/03/2006 12:46

someone told me before that you don't fully understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.

I think a lot of people have a grasp on certain issues but don't understand it enough to explain it basically.

RTKangaMummy · 28/03/2006 12:52

If you are interested what 9 - 11 year old science is about watch BBC2 at 1pm today

Kathy1972 · 28/03/2006 12:54

My dh (maths lecturer) is hopeless at explaining things to me, even though he always gets brilliant crits from his students, because he simply can't believe how little I know.
He'll say 'this is basic A level stuff' and I'll have to remind him for the umpteenth time that not only did I not do A level maths, I didn't even do O level (GCSE - bit easier!)....

foxinsocks · 28/03/2006 12:55

biology was always my worst but I loved chemistry and physics (and could never get why people couldn't understand things like forces, molecular chemistry). My downfall was anything where I had to learn facts rather than interpret/understand.

yes, I can see why a full understanding of a subject would give you the ability to predict where students would start losing the plot!

blueshoes · 28/03/2006 13:12

I got distinctions in A Level maths and science (boast, sorry), so I think at some level I did "get" it. But these are rather abstract subjects. If a lecturer expected me to "get it" by sitting in front of me explaining, I would blank out. Just wanted to crawl somewhere with my textbook and ruminate over it and play with the concepts. So the way the student absorbs facts has to be respected. There is something in the nature of the subject (maths and physics, and to a lesser extent chemistry and biology) which requires a bit more self-effort by the student.

I used to tutor those subjects on an informal basis. Yes, some people take longer, but esp for maths, it is building blocks and you can't move to the next exercise until you've mastered the previous. Not something you can blag your way out of. But great for hitting the distinctions once you've "got it".

Original poster

Tortington · 28/03/2006 13:23

sorenlorenson you hit it on the head.

on another thread i started by asking about an electric car - because i wanted to find out after a conversation i had with my daughter - i have been given the answer and even demonstrated that i understand - i will not however be able to explain it to her later :)

OP posts:

cornflakegirl · 28/03/2006 13:37

i think it is a thing with maths - i could never understand why my friends didn't understand it because it all seemed so simple to me - until i went to university when it all became completely opaque.

while i would agree that in general knowing a subject really well helps you teach it better, i think it really is different for maths. one of my uni lecturers used to go really slowly on the easy bits, and really fast on the hard bits - because he just had no concept of which bits were hard for us! i think the best maths teachers are those who have struggled with the subject but now understand it :)

PeachyClair · 28/03/2006 14:28

I think quality of teaching is everything.

I failed GCSE twice, was in sn maths classes. went back to college last eyar and aced the maths bit, and am doing stats as part of my degree now.

Blandmum · 28/03/2006 14:33

I don't think you should seel yourself short though. I teach 11-18 year olds, I have also taught students at university, 'ordinary and 'mature', I have also taught GCSE to adult learners. When you come to study as an adult you do so often with more comittment and a whole raft of life skills which are not in even the most gifted of children. Time managment, breadth of understanding etc are often there in abundance in older students, who have gone out of their way to study.

Education is often wasted on the young

PeachyClair · 28/03/2006 14:46

'I don't think you should sell yourself short'

LOL MB, I'm hearingt hat everywhere I go today!

So far I have been told to go for a Phd, become an MP.... any other unachievable suggestions?

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