Does estimation merit an important role in the curriculum? Perhaps estimation is so easy and so pervasive that students learn the ideas even without formal instruction. Most leaders today disagree with this view; it is generally felt that the amount of instruction in estimation is not what it should be. (Increasing attention to this subject is one reason for the existence of this yearbook!) But why, if estimation is so widely represented in mathematics, must a special effort be made by teachers to work with these concepts? There are many reasons for such an effort, and these reasons for teaching estimation are not the same as the reasons for doing estimation.
Almost 30 years later, is this worth discussing?
Would Schoen and Zweng feel differently today?
I'm curious to know where Schoen and Zweng are headed in the following pages of this section. Are you?
I look forward to posting some follow-up notes in the next week. In the meantime, what are your thoughts?