05/06/2019
In a useful study directed toward students and educators alike, Boaler (Mathematical Mindsets), a Stanford mathematics education professor, argues against approaching learning in terms of “fixed intelligence and giftedness,” and in favor of approaching it through the new science of neuroplasticity. She notes that skills long thought genetically fixed, such as the rare phenomenon of perfect pitch, can be learned and nurtured, and maintains that it’s more productive to categorize children as “hard-working” rather than “smart.” In discussing math education in particular, Boaler points out international comparative tests in which American students did relatively poorly, attributing this to an excessive focus on memorization; she favors instead a diverse approach, such as taking visual as well as numerical approaches to solving math problems. An advocate of wide-ranging intellectual creativity, Boaler notes that two computer scientists who in 2018 solved a difficult equation that had long stymied mathematicians “believed their success came from the fact that they had less knowledge than others” and thus could “think differently.” While Boaler’s hyperbolic title promises too much—her book shows the human mind as expansive but not unlimited—and she can occasionally belabor a point, on the whole her guide offers fresh pedagogical approaches to educators and meaningful encouragement and ideas to students. (Sept.)
