new math
2
7.9
- noun
- /nuː mæθ/
- Archaic
:
nueva matemática
- The students will face tough new state standards in reading and science, and they'll work hard (we've been told) to improve on their showing in the new math standards that took effect last year.
- new math curriculum
- new math teacher
- new math program
Examples
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Many parents were concerned about the confusing concepts taught in new math classes at school.
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In high school, she was placed in a gifted program to learn "new math."
Academic text (1995) -
OK, so with new math typically comes new notation, new symbols that you use.
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"They just simplified it," Bailey said of the tutors helping her sons with the new math.
Academic text (2016) -
What is currently being proposed under the rubric of thoughtful or authentic teaching and learning seems to me to be very similar to what was once called the new math, the new English, and the new sciences.
Academic text (1994) -
The introduction of new math aimed to enhance students' understanding of abstract mathematical principles.
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She struggled to grasp the ideas presented in new math, which differed significantly from traditional methods.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally interpretable — a B1 learner who knows 'new' and 'math' will infer a recent or novel kind of mathematics (or new way of doing/teaching math). However, the canonical meaning refers to a specific mid‑20th‑century pedagogical movement with particular connotations (teaching methods, emphasis on set theory, perceived difficulty) that are not predictable from the words alone, so full understanding requires prior exposure.
Etymology
New math comes from a time when schools began teaching a very different kind of math, using new ideas instead of the usual step-by-step rules. Because it was a whole 'new' way of doing 'math', people called it new math, and it now means 'a new, often confusing way to teach math'.