Can the Abacus Improve Students' Math Skills? | Education Week / Video

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Photo: Ulrich Boser

In researching a book, Ulrich Boser discovered how an ancient technology can help improve math skills and understanding.

The 4,000 year old abacus might be ancient technology, but it can serve as a teaching tool for modern students. When operating the device, one learns decomposition — a way to think about pairs of numbers mentioned in the common-core standards.'

How the Abacus Can Help Students Learn Math
In this video,Ulrich Boser, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, challenges his daughters to solve math problems using a Japanese abacus.
 

The movements involved in manipulating the abacus also aid in solving problems. Ulrich Boser, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, says counting and visualizing numbers allows us to "offload ideas onto our hands." In this video, he further explains the strengths of using this remarkable device.

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