NCTM: MEASURE FOR MEASURE

摘要

It was astonishing to open the May/June 2009 issue of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics NCTM News Bulletin and find NCTM President Henry S. Kepner's essay titled "Measure for Measure." This is the first time in memory that a president of that organization has chosen measurement as the focus of the president's message to math teachers. Dr. Kepner states, "NCTM advocates that every student be comfortable with and proficient in the use of the metric system. There can be no retreat from this position!" USMA heartily approves of this strong position. Unfortunately, he also recommends the continued teaching of the inch-pound (I-P) system because it is still used in the U.S. Although Kepner admits that students in most other countries out-perform U.S. students on tests of measurement, he fails to mention that they need learn only the metric system, so they are not encumbered by having to study the I-P system as well. NCTM's own 2003 yearbook, Learning and Teaching Measurement, reports that students' understanding of measurement lags behind all other mathematics topics.