mathematics

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US Culture Stifles Girls' Math Skills

Smaller countries that nurture students have more prodigies

(Newser) - The women who have won the world's most elite math competitions come disproportionately from small countries with computation-friendly cultures, such as Bulgaria and Romania, a new study finds. The reason the US lags isn't related to talent, but rather to culture. Americans don't value math enough to put kids on...

'Number Sense' Predicts Math Success: Study

Ability to guess group size linked to algebra, calculus skill

(Newser) - The skill of estimating group size at a glance is directly linked to success in higher forms of math like algebra and calculus, reports the Washington Post. A new study found that students with better “number sense”—the ability to quickly and accurately guess numbers in a group—...

Children Can Count Without Numbers
Children Can Count Without Numbers
Aug 19, 2008 8:30 AM CDT

Children Can Count Without Numbers

Study suggests that kids have innate math abilities

(Newser) - A study sure to fan a fiery disagreement among developmental psychologists has found that children can count objects even if their language lacks words for the numbers involved. Researchers found that Australian Aboriginal children, who know words for only a few small numbers, did just as well as English-speaking children...

Girls=Boys in Math, Says Study
 Girls=Boys in Math, Says Study
Jul 24, 2008 6:00 PM CDT

Girls=Boys in Math, Says Study

Gender gap discovered in the 1970s has been closed, researchers say

(Newser) - Girls are just as good as boys at math, says an exhaustive study of 7 million test scores from elementary through high school students, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The findings, to be published tomorrow in Science, are at odds with 30-year-old studies—and a view entrenched in our...

Most Lucrative College Majors
 Most Lucrative College Majors 
Jun 21, 2008 4:07 PM CDT

Most Lucrative College Majors

Computer engineering tops list for grads seeking quick cash

(Newser) - College students looking for fast cash after graduation should study computer engineering, Forbes reports. Here are the most lucrative college majors, with salaries for beginners and veterans alike:
  • Computer engineering ($60,500-$104,000)
  • Economics ($48,000-$96,200)
  • Electrical engineering ($59,900-$96,100)
  • Computer science ($54,200-$94,000)
  • Mechanical engineering ($56,
...

Science Smackdowns Aid Search for 'Bill Gates 2.0'

Popularity of math, science competitions shoots off the charts

(Newser) - With the days when the space program inspired American students to embrace science and math a distant memory, the US is counting on competition among schoolkids to return the country as a whole to a leading role, the Christian Science Monitor reports. High-level science fairs and math bowls are potential...

Two Trains Leave a Station Going 30mph...

Stop! Story problems wrong way to teach math, study says

(Newser) - All those sacks of different-colored marbles and word problems about pizza slices may not actually teach kids effectively, Reuters reports. Though meant to offer a real-world grounding, story problems just add extra distractions, a new study says, suggesting that students might be better off learning abstract concepts than figuring out...

Celebrate pi, It's 3/14!
 Celebrate pi, It's 3/14! 
Mar 14, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

Celebrate pi, It's 3/14!

Classrooms everywhere fete a most mathematical holiday

(Newser) - Math lovers, rejoice, for today is Pi Day, celebrated in classrooms around the country—preferably at 1:59, which, on 3/14, nearly matches 3.14159, the famed irrational number’s first six digits. “What’s fun about pi is that everyone knows the number,” a math professor tells...

Panel: US Math System 'Broken'
 Panel: US Math System 'Broken' 
Mar 13, 2008 1:38 PM CDT

Panel: US Math System 'Broken'

Group, worried about future competitive disadvantage, advises focus on basics

(Newser) - A presidential panel today called US math education “broken” and demanded greater focus on key skills ranging from preschool to middle school, the Washington Post reports. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel responded to concerns that Americans are growing less competitive in the realm, and pointed the way to better...

Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school

(Newser) - Berkeley and Stanford University will help choose faculty and develop curricula for a new university in Saudi Arabia, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The graduate-level King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, funded by a $10 billion gift from the king, will focus on fields like petrochemicals and nano-technology...

Microsoft's Math Genius Talks Shop, Opens New Lab

It's all about phase transitions, psychology

(Newser) - When Microsoft hired math professor Jennifer Chayes 11 years ago, the company couldn’t have realized how prescient they were, to the degree that her high-level research would impact applications as diverse as search, keyword advertising, and social networks. “Who would have thought?” Chayes tells Technology Review in a...

Parents Feel Negative About New New Math

Curriculum teaches children to reason through problems

(Newser) - What happens when parents can't help their first-graders with their math homework? They get upset, as parents in Virginia have over the latest "new" math, which emphasizes problem-solving and visualization over memorization and drills. Many are pressing the school district to dump its new math textbook series, the Washington ...

'Fuzzy Logic' Could Help Create Better Elder Care

Researchers add computational mathematics to monitoring systems

(Newser) - Researchers in the UK and US are collaborating to develop “fuzzy logic” technology to improve care for the elderly. The 6-month project aims to create more discerning medical and accident monitors that can distinguish between, for example, a slamming door and a person falling, CNET reports. So-called fuzzy logic...

Teachers Need Help as Math Gets Tougher

With algebra now taught as early as grade school, many lack skills

(Newser) - Having long lagged behind other nations, the United States is finally kicking up the level of mathematics instruction in public schools. But as algebra becomes a subject for middle schoolers, and basics are introduced to elementary students, It's turning out to be as much a challenge for the teachers as...

Vt. HS Learns Tough Math Lesson
Vt. HS Learns Tough Math Lesson
Dec 11, 2007 2:25 PM CST

Vt. HS Learns Tough Math Lesson

S&P miscalculates, leading to goof in US News national rankings

(Newser) - Vermont’s Montpelier High School was bursting with pride over its fifth-place ranking on US World & News Report’s top-100 schools list, until—whoops!— the magazine said the school wasn’t even in the top 100. “We were up there among all these schools for the talented...

Girls Take Top Science Honors for 1st Time

They beat the boys in prestigious Siemens contest

(Newser) - For the first time in the 9-year-old contest, high school girls have won both top honors at the Siemens Competition in science. The individual prize of $100,000 went to a Pennsylvania girl whose research into bone growth was deemed to be at graduate student level by the judges. She...

US Kids Lag in Math, Science
US Kids Lag in Math, Science
Dec 4, 2007 8:30 PM CST

US Kids Lag in Math, Science

International test puts US teens 17th among 30 countries

(Newser) - American teens are worse at math and science than peers in 16 of 30 countries, according to test results released today. The 5,600 US students who took the test last year scored 24th in math, but almost made average in science. "How are our children going to be...

US Schools Not in Dire Decline, Study Says

Report blasts myth of kids lagging in math, science, reading

(Newser) - Despite dire warnings, US students rank well against worldwide peers in math, science, and reading, according to a new study. In fact US scores are rising, and students are graduating with more science and engineering diplomas than the US market can sustain. So why all of the hullabaloo about US...

Why US Math, Science Ed is OK
Why US Math, Science Ed is OK
Oct 26, 2007 11:50 AM CDT

Why US Math, Science Ed is OK

Writer cites against-the-grain report ranking US in second place globally

(Newser) - Americans aren’t as deficient at math and science as usually reported, writes entrepreneur and Harvard Law Fellow Vivek Wadhwa in a Business Week op-ed. He cites an Urban Institute report with results contradicting many long-held beliefs about American science education, which places American science students consistently second in the...

4th Grade Math Scores Add Up
4th Grade Math Scores Add Up
Sep 26, 2007 11:35 AM CDT

4th Grade Math Scores Add Up

20% more students proficient in math than in 1990

(Newser) - American elementary school students have improved their math skills considerably, with 20% more fourth graders scoring "proficient" on standardized math tests than in 1990, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Reading skills show more modest gains. The number of students scoring proficient in reading has increased only...

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