Why is algebra so hard? | Emmanuel Schanzer | TEDxBeaconStreet

Emmanual Schanzer thought that the way algebra was taught made no sense, and decided to do something about it. He turned a discipline that frustrates many students into a skill they could immediately apply. Watch his talk to learn how.

Dr. Emmanuel Schanzer is a CS-expat, having spent several years as a program manager and developer before becoming a high school teacher and middle school academic coach. He is the founder and creator of Bootstrap, which he first designed as a curriculum for his own students in Boston. He has long been involved in connecting educators and technology, connecting parties at the Computer Science Teachers Association, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and at universities across the country. He holds degrees in computer science and curriculum development, and is a Doctor of Education with a research focus on using programming to teach algebra.

[slicecuts]

Watching this instead of doing my math homework

[sauron]

This is me when learning algebra

Don’t understand
Slowly learn
Understand
Forget

[notafurry]

Algebra isn’t hard at all, you just need good teachers

[kifter]

We need better teachers. Not idiots who teach the 5 kids who already know the material, We need them to actually teach, not assume we know it and skip that part.

[Willam_J]

This describes, what I’ve always felt, was the problem with the way algebra is being taught in schools. How many times can you make students beat their heads against a wall, only to come up with answers like “(XY) squared”, before they want to slit their wrists?

I hated algebra. I hated it with a passion. When I went on to college for my EE degree, I was scared of the math, when I really shouldn’t have been. When I used those same equations to come up with answers like “1, 200 ohms” or “36 volts”, it came easy to me. It became so intuitive, that if I calculated a wrong answer, it was immediately apparent.

What we are failing at, is teaching students how to apply algebra to solve real-world problems, which will show them the value of it. You can show me all of the ways to hammer nails into wood, but if you don’t show me that I can use that skill to build a house, I’m going to get bored and frustrated very quickly.

[joecook]

I think when kids switch to algebra in like 8th grade the appearance of letters in the problems throws them off. They think now it gets complicated. And scared of failing and struggling. like long division in third grade did for some.

So my idea is introduce letters as the variable for basic arithmetic problems once in a while when they're young.

Like 2 plus 2 equals x. Solve for x. Correct! 4. Good job.

My whole point is mix in letters earlier.

[boopy]

I've always found math in generally to be extremely confusing. There was always a question of "why". English and biology were easy. I found explaining and calculating physics easy as well, but when it was math, I understood nothing. Theres always a part of me thats lagging behind and trying to figure out why we did this to get that. In Physics it sounded logical to me and it stuck; Pressure decreases when a fluid speeds up so we adjust the wings of a plane to lessen the resistance on one side to make air speed up and pressure decrease as as a result, the ratio is tipped and the plane goes up. But when it was math it was all we get x and y and blah blah. None of them were real things so none of them were something I could remember. That's the only reason i really found algebra hard. It was just so abstract that nothing stuck.

[nicoandersen]

Clicked out of curiosity, stayed for Emmanuel's lively energy.

[edschneidmuller]

My 9th grade Regents Algebra teacher, Mr Cacuitto actually made algebra fun. I was typically not very good at math but ended up scoring a 93 % on the NYS Regents exam. If memory serves he had more students in his classes ace the regents than any other teacher on NYS.I was lucky to have him.And he was a really nice fellow.

[BenjaminLee]

not gonna lie i actually legit cried over my math homework on functions, logarithms and exponentials before watching this

[RaginDragn]

I think algebra is hard because it feels like a chore to learn and our algebra class is beyond boring and with the old education system we have today, it feels forced. I want to learn but lecturing and taking notes while constantly feeling tired and bored is not how I want to learn. I want to have fun In my learning.

[mooviedude]

I took a basic algebra course in college just to brush up on long lost math skills and it was easy breezy smooth sailing at the beginning as we were covering the basics but as soon we got into algebraic equations everyone went brain dead. It went from 1-100 on a scale of difficulty within two days, there has to be a better way to teach students how to understand algebra.

[samk]

It’s not that the teachers aren’t smart, it’s that they don’t know how to relate that’s knowledge to others. Teaching effectively is a hard skill that not anyone can master.

[nothingHereJor]

For most videos, my volume only has to be around 25 - 30.
For this video, I have to turn my volume up to 100 to get to that same loudness.

[jeremyh]

He didn't show why algebra is hard. Like the title 😒. He showed how we can get computer science into math class😒. Duh this is not the same.

[FreakingRockstar]

So was the Ted Talk "Why is algebra so hard?" or "How to force people into computer science classes"?

[MarciaArleneDebra]

I have realized that teaching math is a skill that, and most of the people who teach it lack the skill. To be an effective math teacher or any subject with a well-structured domain, you need to know why a student does the wrong thing. The teacher must like math, and do not make children think-through their own attitude-that math is difficult.

[irwinsaltzman]

As a math tutor the kids who can not add/ multiply fractions have problems with algebra. Good number literacy is required before algebra.

[UltimateTrekkie]

Math and algebra are definitely key, and there's something exciting about finding new and innovative ways to teach it by making it fun and something kids enjoy learning.

[azlizzie]

As a math teacher interested in teaching a stem related elective, this didn't actually help me at all.