Arithmetic by television

Abstract

There was a watchful concern when second-grade arithmetic was made a part of the Des Moines–Polk County educational television curriculum. It was feared by many that arithmetic at the secondgrade level could not be taught successfully by TV. Local educators were conscious of the fact that mathematics requires the development of ideas structured in an appropriate sequence which allows for continuous growth. Many people reasoned that children would be inattentive; that direct teacher-to-pupil relationships would be lacking; that the children could not use manipulative materials with the studio teacher (a. technique desirable at this level); and that all would receive the same instruction with no provision for individual differences.