Math goals (DLR Fall 10)

Idealistic statement

"The goal of teachers, like that of parents, should be to make our students, like our children, independent of us."

Other information

Research, some of it my own, shows that the retention a year later of much course material "successfully mastered" by students is a great deal more limited than (some) teachers would like to believe.--Draulston 10:16, 17 September 2010 (CDT)

Comments/Implications

If retention of information is limited, then the teaching style should either emphasize the basics to ingrain them, increasing the chances that they will be remembered (this choice would make for a boring class), or to accept that most of what is taught will be forgotten quickly and just assume that the students will need a refresher for old material being reintroduced.