this post was submitted on 31 May 2025
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 19 hours ago

Maths is not about memorisation

It is for ROTE learners.

You are not supposed to remember that the area of a triangle is a * h / 2

Yes you are. A lot of students get the wrong answer when they forget the half.

you’re supposed to understand why it’s the case

Constructivist learners can do so, ROTE learners it doesn't matter. As long as they all know how to do Maths it doesn't matter if they understand it or not.

You’re supposed to be able to show that any triangle that can possibly exist is half the area of the rectangle it’s stuck in

No they're not.

If you’ve understood that once, there is no reason to remember anything because you can derive the formula at a moment’s notice.

And if you haven't understood it then there is a reason to remember it.

you can derive the formula at a moment’s notice

Students aren't expected to be able to do that.

All maths can be understood and derived like that

It can be by Constructivist learners, not ROTE learners.

The names of the colours, their ordering, the names of the planets and how they’re ordered, they’re arbitrary

No they're not. Colours are in spectrum order, the planets are in order from the sun.

Maths doesn’t, instead it dies when you apply memorisation

A very substantial chunk of the population does just fine with having memorised Maths.