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Can we do away with minus?
When I was a child learning basic arithmetic, a problem like this was not uncommon:
5-3=2 (five minus three equals two)
For some reason, I started thinking about this and negative numbers. I was never taught the concept of negative numbers until years later. With my basic arithmetic skills, I would probably be baffled by something like: -2+3=1 even though I understood 3-2=1 perfectly well.
Are we doing a disservice to math students by teaching arithmetic this way?
What if negative numbers were taught from the beginning and a problem like 5-4=1 was no longer seen as "five minus four equals one", but rather as "the sum of negative four and five equals one"?
It might seem trivial, but having the concept of negative numbers earlier on would seem to help with gearing up a mathematical mind earlier on. We could do away with minus.
Of course, maybe others here were taught this way early on. If so, I'd like to hear about it. I'd also be interested in experience people may have with teaching one or both of these methods and their reactions to the outcomes.
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Hypography Science Forums Moderator
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"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan
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