Perhaps this is a good argument for introducing study of the abacus into the maths curriculum. Calculation with the abacus uses the "visiospatial" hemisphere of the brain, unlike calculation with pen and paper, which uses the "linguistic" hemisphere. Given the links between memory and calculation, if spatial memory is an untapped resource maybe spatial calculation is too. When I was researching this for my book, I failed to find anyone doing serious research into the educational benefits of the abacus. Recently, Michael Frank at Stanford has been looking into it however: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/august/abacus-mental-math-080311.html On 26 Aug 2011, at 15:19, Henry Baker wrote:
It has been known, although apparently not well known, since antiquity that _spatial memory_ is incredibly powerful. By utilizing the _visual cortex_, the human brain can memorize a lot more than most people realize.
In retrospect, this should be obvious to anyone who has ever been hiking in the woods very much. Due to evolutionary pressure (presumably), humans (and many animals) can relatively effortlessly store & remember an enormous number of bits about their location.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci
It is for reasons like this that it is often easier to remember _very specific facts_ and the rule to generalize from them, instead of a more general rule.
I know it sounds crazy, but if I listen to a program on the radio while driving & later recall the information discussed on the program, I often recall where I was on the road at the precise time that information was discussed.
At 12:47 PM 8/25/2011, hilarie@xmission.com wrote:
I will hypothesize that mathematical ability is the least understood aspect of human psychology, and perhaps it is the most complicated part. I would guess there is huge variation in which parts of the brain are used for the operations. It is amazing that it can be taught at all.
I'd like to see more research on how people actually learn and do math in all its varieties. I have no confidence in any particular curriculum or methods. I don't even believe that the evaluation methods make any sense.
Hilarie
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