There is a book, very popular in our Mathematics Education department, Why Johnny can't add., by the late Morris Kline. Professor Kline made the point that Modern Mathematics was not properly taught to American children in the fifties and early sixties, leading to a huge failure; the children did not understand Set Theory, and they couldn't add either.
I believe, that that first try did accomplish something.
Teachers and students were told that the era of rote memorization of algorithms, without any intention of ever knowing what an algorithm was, had ended.
Children are not computers, and the effort to convert them into bad computers didn't serve any purpose, while real computers were already invented. At a minimum it was useless, and at the other extreme view, the one I now hold, it was abusive. Children are not computers.
The New Scientific Method, has to introduce, in the best possible way, the role of computers. As a first try, here I write the steps of the New Scientific Method, in a concise way.
- Observe
- Compute
- Compare
A possible name for this baby is OCC.
I have now three names to choose from: SHC, SCH, or OCC.
The Python program above maybe, could be taught to children. I do not know yet.
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