Kritik av Skolverket i Ny Avhandling om Matematik+Programmering

Peter Vinnervik ger Skolverket svidande kritik i sin avhandling om den nya kursplanen med programmering som del av matematikämnet, vilket tas upp i artikeln Forskare: Skolverket är otydliga om programmering i Läraren:

• Skolans styrdokument ger inte lärarna tillräckligt bra stöd för hur de ska undervisa i programmering.
• Man talar om att eleverna ska lära sig programmeringens grunder, men vad de består av kommuniceras väldigt kortfattat i kursplanerna, framför allt för ämnet matematikbudskapet om programmering kommuniceras via flera olika texter. 
• Man är väldigt otydlig med vad det är för kunskaper som eleverna ska lära sig. 
• Lärarna upplever budskapet som väldigt luddigt.
• Det behövs ytterligare en revidering av kursplanerna för att göra det tydligare för lärarna hur de ska arbeta med programmering i undervisningen.

Peter Vinnervik går så långt att han föreslår att programmering skall överföras till teknikämnet, eftersom reform av matematikundervisningen förefaller vara utsiktslös. 

Vi får se om Skolverket kan lyssna på denna kritik. Skolverkets syn uttrycks av undervisningsråd Johan Falk, som i Läraren uttrycker Skolverket: Ge mattelärare tid att fortbilda sig i programmering:

•  Studiematerial och tillfällen till fortbildning i programmering finns. 
• Flaskhalsen är tid och den är det bara skolhuvudmännen som kan skapa för sina lärare.

Innebörden är att Skolverket inte anser att Skolverket kan göra något mer än det som redan gjorts. 

Det skall bli intressant att se om Skolverket är kapabelt att lyssna på något av den svidande kritiken från Vinnervik. Det är inte säkert. Som Skolverkets Generaldirektör Peter Fredriksson urskuldande brukar säga: "Matematik är inte Sveriges bästa gren".

From Vinnervik's Abstract:

The results show that teachers face several intrinsic and extrinsic challenges during the process of integrating programming in their teaching. A perceived lack of professional knowledge and understanding of programming among the teachers emerged as a prominent challenge both prior to and more than two years into the reform. Additional challenges are related to teaching materials, time for preparation and professional development. In technology education, teachers mainly see programming as a medium to explore and understand technological systems and construction work. They are uncertain of what programming means in terms of practices and concepts, and about learning progression and assessment. The results further reveal that the curriculum texts are sparse on details about what programming knowledge entails. Important strategic decisions are left entirely to the teachers without any clear guidance. In addition, the results indicate that many technology teachers work in isolation and that interdisciplinary work around programming, as intended in the curriculum, is generally lacking. It is concluded that there is a risk of inequality among schools and that the children’s experience of programming becomes fragmented, despite good intentions. The current implementation model needs to be improved, and this thesis presents two possible actions.

New Math Education Site: Leibniz World of Math

I have changed the name of my mathematics education project to Leibniz World of Math from the previous DigiMat Encyclopedia. Take a look! 

Euler Was Right, Prandtl Was Wrong II

I am working on a new article to be expanded to a book with the title Euler Was Right, Prandtl Was Wrong  which can be seen as a summary of my work on fluid dynamics for 30 years together with former students Johan Hoffman, Johan Jansson and Anders Szepessy. In short, our work shows that the following prophetic declaration by Euler from 1755, indeed is fully correct:

• My two equations contain all of the theory of fluid mechanics. It is not the principles of mechanics we lack to pursue this analysis but only Analysis (computation), which is not sufficiently developed for this purpose...We have to wait until the age of the computer to solve the equations.

And yes, we now live in the age of the computer and then Euler's two equations as a parameter-free model can be solved in the form of Euler CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and so open a whole new world of turbulent flow to prediction, analysis and control, without any further need of mathematical modeling with parameter fitting. 

Euler CFD is to be compared with Prandtl CFD as the Standard CFD developed during the 20th century based on Prandtl's boundary layer theory including complicated wall and turbulence models with many parameters, which does not offer true predictive computation, as the legacy of the declared Father of Modern Fluid Mechanics. 

Take look and see what you think. This post directly connects to the discussion in recent posts with Doug McLean representing Standard CFD. See also previous post.