Column: Making sense of math

Quick, solve this problem:

Mary has six apples and four times as many oranges. How many more oranges than apples does she have?

Pencils down. How did you do?

If you went to school in this country, you likely solved the problem like this: First, you multiplied six times four to get 24. Then you subtracted six to come up with the answer - 18.

Then, if you're like me, you thought, wait - did I figure that correctly?

Whatever, you'd say. Close enough.

But if you'd gone to school in Singapore, at least in recent years, you'd figure the problem differently. Maybe you'd draw a box for your six apples, then four more boxes for your oranges, which would clearly show your three extra groups of six - 18 oranges.

Students in Singapore are taught to use critical thinking to solve math problems, not rote memorization. The lessons stick: Singapore was second in the world in fourth-grade math scores in the most recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.

The U.S. came in 11th among 36 countries. Singaporean students are about two years ahead of our students by the time they reach high school.

In elementary school, they focus so thoroughly on number operations and geometry that by the end of sixth grade, everyone is ready for algebra.

Here, we add probability, data analysis and algebraic thinking. Our math curriculum is fragmented, “an inch deep and a mile wide,” as Robert van Deusen, University of Iowa lecturer in elementary mathematics methods, told me this week.

“Right now, lots of kids can get right answers to problems, but they don't have a clue what they've done,” he said.

Comparing the U.S. educational system to that in Singapore might be like comparing - well - apples and oranges. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to learn something from a system that seems to work so well. Resigning ourselves to innumeracy isn't an option, and not just because it's embarrassing.

Nationwide, only 42 percent of last year's high school graduates taking the ACT test were ready for college algebra, the testing organization recently reported. One out of two Iowa grads was adequately prepared - but that's still nothing to celebrate. They've got a lot of catching up to do.

And even for those who won't go to college, figuring shouldn't be a mystery.

A democracy requires citizens who can make far finer distinctions than 1, 10, 100 - a lot.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com