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Just wondering what some of your thoughts are with remedial math for those who take it in college....well community college.
Do you think that people who take remedial math classes shouldn't go on to do something in an engineering field like mechanical engineering since it has a lot of math? Should they pursue something that is out of the "stem" area?
Just wondering what some of your thoughts are with remedial math for those who take it in college....well community college.
Do you think that people who take remedial math classes shouldn't go on to do something in an engineering field like mechanical engineering since it has a lot of math? Should they pursue something that is out of the "stem" area?
This is going to depend on why they need remedial math and how well they do in learning the concepts they need.
Sometimes the students who are taking remedial math simply were badly taught at the high school level or were so math anxious that they could not learn. With good teaching, they might actually enjoy math and they might be able to go on to higher math with aplomb.
Now this is not true of every student and if a student has NO aptitude for math, they should not go into engineering or science.
Remedial classes in college aren't new as a lot of people on these forums seem to believe nor are they limited to community colleges. Community college numbers have just grown exponetially over the last couple or three decades.
When I went to college in the early 70's there were already remedial classes in both Math and English at my fairly well regarded PA state college. They were called Student Development and the sections were labelled on the order of SD111 Algebra.
What has changed is the number of students needing these classes and I have the gut feeling that we're seeing the results of students who historically would not have been considered for college attendance now going.
Add to the fact that community colleges are now academically oriented rather than trade oriented, as they originally were.
I work at a small university, and many of our freshmen are those who didn't get in to our larger state universities. Many (as much as half) of them place into remedial math. One disadvantage for the science majors is that it takes them longer to complete the program because they have to get caught up in the math before they can even begin to take the intro biology and chemistry courses. Of those science majors who have to take remedial math, only about 1/4 of them even make it to the point where they can start the science coursework. The rest either change their major or drop out. I suspect it's part poor preparation in high school and part influx of students who otherwise wouldn't have attended college.
Just wondering what some of your thoughts are with remedial math for those who take it in college....well community college.
Do you think that people who take remedial math classes shouldn't go on to do something in an engineering field like mechanical engineering since it has a lot of math? Should they pursue something that is out of the "stem" area?
To go into those fields you need a strong math background but I would not say someone in remedial Math is doomed. Everyone's circumstance is different. I never had to take remedial math in college, but I found due to teaching styles, fous, and structure I learned more and got better grades in college than high school.
Also, some times is not bad to take a class that is mostly review, especially in your 1st semester, so that you can focus your efforts in other class'. I tested out of Calc. 1 and 2 from AP class'. Had I applied my credit they would have put me in calc. 3. Instead I took calc 1, some was review, other topics became more clear, and most importantly it gave me time to focus on other subjects.
That being said, I don't know how your CC is structured but I would guess that taking remedial math would put and A.S. in Engineering student behind a class or more.
Just wondering what some of your thoughts are with remedial math for those who take it in college....well community college.
Do you think that people who take remedial math classes shouldn't go on to do something in an engineering field like mechanical engineering since it has a lot of math? Should they pursue something that is out of the "stem" area?
I think much depends on what exactly the "Remedial Math" course is covering. Are we talking about Algebra, Calculus, or the more basic concepts like fractions, percentages, multiplication, etc.
"Remedial Math" doesn't mean too much without a course description.
Also, some times is not bad to take a class that is mostly review, especially in your 1st semester, so that you can focus your efforts in other class'. I tested out of Calc. 1 and 2 from AP class'. Had I applied my credit they would have put me in calc. 3. Instead I took calc 1, some was review, other topics became more clear, and most importantly it gave me time to focus on other subjects.
As a former AP science teacher, I must say that was really smart! We can't possibly teach high school kids the same course they would get in college (especially with open enrollment in AP courses) and I don't feel that even a good score on an AP test guarantees that the student is ready for the next level.
Just wondering what some of your thoughts are with remedial math for those who take it in college....well community college.
Do you think that people who take remedial math classes shouldn't go on to do something in an engineering field like mechanical engineering since it has a lot of math? Should they pursue something that is out of the "stem" area?
There's no single answer to your question.
If the reason you're taking remedial math is because you did poorly in HS as a result of goofing off, but can grasp and perform at math, then go ahead and show in the remedial class that you're up to the task.
If you're taking remedial math because you struggle with basic concepts like operations with fractions or simple algebra, then engineering is definitley not in your future.
As a former AP science teacher, I must say that was really smart! We can't possibly teach high school kids the same course they would get in college (especially with open enrollment in AP courses) and I don't feel that even a good score on an AP test guarantees that the student is ready for the next level.
Also, its not like I would have graduated early as we had to do a cap stone project, only offered in the spring.
I had a decent teacher for calc. AB and an excellent on for BC. I got a 4 on the AB exam and a 5 on the BC exam so that was partly the reason.
I struggled early in calc. AB with limits and again with trig functions, aslo calc. BC did not go over series as well as they taught it in college.
If I was thrown into Calc. 3 freshman year of college it would have been a much, much tougher semester. To this day that was still the hardest math class I have taken (I also took stats, linear algebra, and differential equations).
Instead I took calc. 1, took my history elective pass/fail, and was able to focus on the acceleration chemistry class as well as an engineering design class. I did feel for the students who were learning calc. for the 1st time during that semester.
If the reason you're taking remedial math is because you did poorly in HS as a result of goofing off, but can grasp and perform at math, then go ahead and show in the remedial class that you're up to the task.
If you're taking remedial math because you struggle with basic concepts like operations with fractions or simple algebra, then engineering is definitley not in your future.
I'd say that's pretty accurate.
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