The Fischbowl - Best of 2007, "A Formula For Success?"

I reviewed an article from February 2007 called "A Formula For Success?" from The Fischbowl blog. This article was a great piece written on how we need to rethink the way we teach mathematics to students. He brings up many interesting points, all of which I agree with. He talks about the idea of "one right answer" in math and how that is not always what the concept should be. He believes we need to teach our students practical applications for math and ensure they actually understand the concepts rather than be able to calculate a memorized formula. He gives a great example where he asks his readers to take a simple quiz. The first question asks the reader to explain the quadratic equation and then subsequent questions regarding the equation. His point is that how many of us possibly remember this, regardless of whether we learned it or not in school.

Why do we think it's important to teach students mathematical problems and test them until they can spit back answers, but never delve into whether they actually understand what they are calculating or teach them what they can do with it? If we taught students practical applications, ones that can be applied to what they really need to know, wouldn't they be better off? Maybe they would then be better able to retain what they learn, which would help them more in the long run.