Abstract algebra shouldn’t be a requirement for high school graduation (requirements, geometry)
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There are numerous high school subjects that have limited utility in the real world. History is one. Some students will never "get it." Geometry is another.
Funny, but in my work as an appraiser I often use geometry when measuring complex homes. Once I had to measure this strange dome house that was perfectly round. "Pi R squared" popped into my mind and I was done.
All of the above makes my eyes glaze over and my head hurt.
I have no idea how I ever passed the required math in order to graduate college. Largely because my major required a lot of accounting courses as opposed to algebra, I suspect.
Accounting makes sense. Algebra does not. At least not to me.
My explanation didn't make sense because your eyes were glazed over and your head hurt from the other two. In person and with a few little boxes, I could teach it to you and it would make perfect sense. (I've taught it to second-graders, no problem, easy-peasy.) But I'd have to do it when you aren't expecting any algebra, and when no one has been confusing you with other math problems. I could probably even put it in accounting terms for you.
The whole point of any kind of education is to make you think. It's not about memorization and regurgitation. STEM courses teach you to recognize problems and use a systematic logical approach to find a solution. Liberal arts courses open your eyes to the world outside your immediate sphere of influence. These things are important to creating well-rounded mature adults who can think for themselves and deal with life's problems.
Please don't advocate for dumbing down the educational system even more than it is now.
I guess at one point I could have called myself a well educated person. In high school, after MUCH gnashing of the teeth, crying and groaning through hours of trying to get the concept, I finally "got" it.
Now, I guess you would call me just a plain old uneducated bum at 62 years old. I wouldn't have a CLUE how to solve a math question involving Algebra now and I don't care. Makes NO matter in my life.
Today, with the age of decent calculators, NO ONE needs to learn Algebra unless they need to use it in their field of work where they don't have access to a calculator (which is pretty much nowhere)
You have a 401k, and are in the 22% tax bracket. Your state has a 6% income tax and a 5.5% sales tax. You want to buy a car, and will take money out of your 401k to cover the expense. How much do you withdraw?
That's an elementary linear equation. I suggest you never did "get" it.
You have a 401k, and are in the 22% tax bracket. Your state has a 6% income tax and a 5.5% sales tax. You want to buy a car, and will take money out of your 401k to cover the expense. How much do you withdraw?
That's an elementary linear equation. I suggest you never did "get" it.
They don't need to get it. There is an app for that. Think different.
Funny, but in my work as an appraiser I often use geometry when measuring complex homes. Once I had to measure this strange dome house that was perfectly round. "Pi R squared" popped into my mind and I was done.
Did "Pi R squared" pop in your head at 1000 rpm?
Did you get dizzy and have a headache afterward?
It's funny how people in the old days survived the depression and ww2 without having to know all these higher level math requirements like nowadays. They had better skills at basic things then. Going through life gives you ways to think "logically" or "critically". If teens don't want to go to college, it's probably better to enter workforce or trade school instead of high school.
It's funny how people in the old days survived the depression and ww2 without having to know all these higher level math requirements like nowadays. They had better skills at basic things then. Going through life gives you ways to think "logically" or "critically". If teens don't want to go to college, it's probably better to enter workforce or trade school instead of high school.
We didn't have computers and all the other high-tech stuff that goes with them, either.
The whole point of any kind of education is to make you think. It's not about memorization and regurgitation. STEM courses teach you to recognize problems and use a systematic logical approach to find a solution. Liberal arts courses open your eyes to the world outside your immediate sphere of influence. These things are important to creating well-rounded mature adults who can think for themselves and deal with life's problems.
Please don't advocate for dumbing down the educational system even more than it is now.
Bravo Johah! I agree. Since when do we run away from challenges? As an undergrad in college I remember taking a statistics class in which the average grade for everybody was a D+. I kid you not. I got a C out of it and I was proud for my accomplishment. Do I use stats much now? No! But I enjoyed the busting my butt to get that C grade. Just like Jonah says above, it taught me a valuable lesson that not everything will be handed to me on a silver platter.
I now appreciate that fact that the university didn't alter or dumb down the class. College is supposed to be challenging!!!!!! If it wasn't, I'd fell cheated.
Dumbing down the educational system hurts everybody. Don't succumb to these idiotic pressures to do so....ever.
It's funny how people in the old days survived the depression and ww2 without having to know all these higher level math requirements like nowadays. They had better skills at basic things then. Going through life gives you ways to think "logically" or "critically". If teens don't want to go to college, it's probably better to enter workforce or trade school instead of high school.
Before the 1950s, few children actually went to high school.
Davenport High exemplified the comprehensive high school, starting with its size. (Two of its silent study-hall periods accommodated 389 students each.) It offered classes in 127 subjects, “from algebra to zoology,” and while students had to take some English, math, science, and history, they could, through electives, study a broad range of noncollege-track material. Two student report cards illustrated the variety of options. A senior, Lon Fagner, who hoped to study dentistry at Northwestern University, was taking Grammar, American Government, Algebra III, Chemistry I, and Phys. Ed. A sophomore, James M. Jones, took English I, Biology I, Electricity I, Machine Shop I, Phys. Ed., and Occupations, a required course that included vocational testing. Life’s well-illustrated story—the opening shot, showing a crowd of teenagers moving toward Davenport High’s large sandstone structure, would resonate with anyone who ever attended a large or midsize American public high school—pictured students working on everything from advanced mathematics and science labs to music and dressmaking. A senior, Carol Jasper, stood on a desk while her fellow students checked her hemline. The young woman, hoping to find office work when she graduated, wanted to learn how to make some of her own clothes to save money.
Quote:
None of this would strike contemporary readers as new, but in 1953, only a small portion of the grandparents of these Davenport students would have had anything like this kind of schooling. Before the early twentieth century, few Americans had been educated beyond the eighth grade; the same was true in other countries. The ambitious attempt to deliver mass secondary education has become known as the American high school movement, and “American” it surely was—from its democratic underpinnings and grass-roots organization to its inspiring, yet sobering, legacy. The movement helped propel the United States into world leadership, but the institution of the high school would reflect key conflicts that have defined American education ever since.
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