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Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

garlikov.com

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Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#21

Post by Chocobean »

ericHosick wrote: post #2

This is a great way to teach and Mr. Garlikov did an amazing job. It is hard work to "teach" this way because it requires student/teacher interaction (which is a lot harder than just standing there and lecturing). Coming up with the content is equally difficult. But it there are so many more things students learn using this method. One is they learn how to create new ideas from existing ones: "inventing". It really g…

>One is they learn how to create new ideas from existing ones

This is how our brains are wired to work: the more places we can cross-reference the material from, the more likely we can "derive" it again quickly even if we can't memorize it.

"shut up/memorize it/some things just are" kills the intention to learn faster than a speeding bullet to the brain.

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#22

Post by DrPhish »

alxp wrote: post #6

One day after a visit to the Computer History Museum, my SO and I got to see the live demo of the analytical engine they have there. We watched the gears turning and stopping to add up numbers, saw the complex mechanisms to handle carrying digits, and she asked me how this would work if it was binary and I just said "much more simply". Then she admitted that, even though she has been working as a developer and manage…

I'm also a member of the "Taught my wife binary just for fun" club, but I used fingers in a different way than Rick Garlikov did. I told her that there was a way to count to 512 using just your fingers, and let her work through how it might be possible using a similar question-answer trial and error approach. Once she realized that each finger had 2 states (up or down), she naturally recreated a binary counting system. It's a neat trick, and even comes in handy when trying to keep track of a large count of something. With kids, however, you may end up with behavior problems around the numbers 4 and 132 :)

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#23

Post by cloudkj »

elviejo wrote: post #8

I love to learn using the Socratic method. One of my favorite books is: "The Little Schemer" which is great and twists my mind in ways that I didn't think where possible. Anyway do you know of other books, on any topic, that use the socratic method?

Would you recommend The Little Schemer as a book for teaching programming/computation concepts to kids?

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#24

Post by pbhjpbhj »

Chocobean wrote: post #16
drblast wrote: post #14

This is wonderful. My wife homeschools, and the math curriculum she uses uses a very similar method from the beginning. My daughter knows "12" as "One-ten two" and "33" as "three-ten three" and says it that way. She also knows those mean twelve and thirty-three, but for the purposes of the math program she uses the place terminology. We can only hope that it will give her a better understanding of what's going on tha…

I'm very very interested in considering homeschooling. How did the article's method differ with your child, since the "class size" is reduced to one? Your child won't have the benefit of being "filled in", but maybe she feels that she owns 100% of the achievement? By the way, "one-ten-two" and "three-ten-thee" is literally how the Chinese would pronounce their numbers (一十二，三十三）. In a way I think it's helped me unders…

IMO English language gets in the way a lot here.

Teaching my then 4yo the decimal system I dropped in some binary, in a similar way to this class - except for him we called it "robot language". He knew it from watching a few (PG!) episodes of Futurama. Hey, if Bender talks it then it's cool and that's enough to spark some interest.

I try to get him to interpret 12 as "one ten and two ones" or "one ten and two more" and say then they we just call it 12. In the same way 1100 in robot language is "one 8, one 4 and 0 twos and 0 ones".

When I'm president of the world number-names are up for reform!

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#25

Post by gort »

Chocobean wrote: post #17
elviejo wrote: post #8

I love to learn using the Socratic method. One of my favorite books is: "The Little Schemer" which is great and twists my mind in ways that I didn't think where possible. Anyway do you know of other books, on any topic, that use the socratic method?

Plato's Republic?

There must be shorter, easier Socratic dialogues one could read. Maybe Euthyphro, or something:

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/euthyfro.html

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#26

Post by kragen »

alxp wrote: post #6

One day after a visit to the Computer History Museum, my SO and I got to see the live demo of the analytical engine they have there. We watched the gears turning and stopping to add up numbers, saw the complex mechanisms to handle carrying digits, and she asked me how this would work if it was binary and I just said "much more simply". Then she admitted that, even though she has been working as a developer and manage…

> live demo of the analytical engine

Difference Engine, no?

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#27

Post by gort »

DrPhish wrote: post #22
alxp wrote: post #6

One day after a visit to the Computer History Museum, my SO and I got to see the live demo of the analytical engine they have there. We watched the gears turning and stopping to add up numbers, saw the complex mechanisms to handle carrying digits, and she asked me how this would work if it was binary and I just said "much more simply". Then she admitted that, even though she has been working as a developer and manage…

I'm also a member of the "Taught my wife binary just for fun" club, but I used fingers in a different way than Rick Garlikov did. I told her that there was a way to count to 512 using just your fingers, and let her work through how it might be possible using a similar question-answer trial and error approach. Once she realized that each finger had 2 states (up or down), she naturally recreated a binary counting syste…

"a way to count to 512"

1024 (or 1023), surely?

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#28

Post by Raphael »

gort wrote: post #27
DrPhish wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also a member of the "Taught my wife binary just for fun" club, but I used fingers in a different way than Rick Garlikov did. I told her that there was a way to count to 512 using just your fingers, and let her work through how it might be possible using a similar question-answer trial and error approach. Once she realized that each finger had 2 states (up or down), she naturally recreated a binary counting syste…

"a way to count to 512" 1024 (or 1023), surely?

She wanted a sign bit.

Re: Teaching binary to 3rd Graders using the Socratic method

#29

Post by jasonkostempski »

Chocobean wrote: post #19
measure2xcut1x wrote: post #9

I learned how to count in binary using my fingers as digits probably about third grade. The pinkie is the 1. At that age, I thought it was pretty cool that I could count to 31 on one hand, and it stuck with me to this day. I'm sure I'll teach my son the same.

=) then you can tell people you are this many years old this year, up until you're 31.

Genius! I can use that for another 4 months, then it'll have to be a pinky and a fist, but that's a little too suggestive for normal conversations.
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