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Old 11-29-2019, 06:49 AM
 
Location: Maryland
2,269 posts, read 1,626,119 times
Reputation: 5199

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Quote:
Originally Posted by NoleFanHSV View Post
That is hilarious. I have an engineering degree and a math minor.

Last time I used Pre-Calc for my job? 5 years ago. Diffy EQs? Not once. Linear Algebra? Not yet once.

There are many engineering disciplines and career paths that don't require a ton of math on any frequent basis.
Looking back (I’m 71), I have to agree that math curriculum requirements were completely out of line for what was actually useful in my path (biologist). I’m retired now and not once did I have used for calculus, advanced algebra, etc. I tried to get some of those courses waived and substitute an electronics course but requirements were fairly inflexible back then. I did make use of some basic algebra and statistics but otherwise, just basic math got me through what I needed. I’m disappointed I didn’t have more freedom of choice in course offerings.
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Old 11-29-2019, 09:09 AM
 
Location: So Ca
26,658 posts, read 26,627,701 times
Reputation: 24712
Quote:
Originally Posted by LesLucid View Post
...not once did I have used for calculus, advanced algebra, etc. I tried to get some of those courses waived and substitute an electronics course but requirements were fairly inflexible back then.
I was told that Calculus was required because it demanded mastery of symbolic logic. (I hated that class, and never saw any logic in it at all.)
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Old 11-29-2019, 10:02 AM
 
1,064 posts, read 468,025 times
Reputation: 949
Quote:
Originally Posted by LesLucid View Post
Looking back (I’m 71), I have to agree that math curriculum requirements were completely out of line for what was actually useful in my path (biologist). I’m retired now and not once did I have used for calculus, advanced algebra, etc. I tried to get some of those courses waived and substitute an electronics course but requirements were fairly inflexible back then. I did make use of some basic algebra and statistics but otherwise, just basic math got me through what I needed. I’m disappointed I didn’t have more freedom of choice in course offerings.
I find this a bit strange. Particularly that you had no use for Calculus. A lot of statistics is based on calculus and statistics is critically important in research.
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Old 11-29-2019, 10:04 AM
 
10,609 posts, read 5,598,931 times
Reputation: 18903
The problem was that Isaac Newton was a physicist. If he had been an economist, instead of inventing The Calculus, he would have invented Linear Programming & the Simplex Method. We'd all take a couple years of linear optimization in college. At the end of the first year of LP, the professor would say, "hey, if you ever run across a truly smooth & continuous function, there's this neat trick called Calculus. Let me show it to you, but don't worry; it's not on the final exam."
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Old 12-02-2019, 07:15 AM
 
Location: Maryland
2,269 posts, read 1,626,119 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldgorilla View Post
I find this a bit strange. Particularly that you had no use for Calculus. A lot of statistics is based on calculus and statistics is critically important in research.
It probably depends on the specific field of interest, populations studies, biomedical engineering or biophysics would be much more math intensive for example. I worked mainly in cell biology, light and electron microscopy, and immunocytochemistry, as applied to retinal regeneration, pathology and mammary gland carcinogenesis, depending on where I was.
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Old 12-02-2019, 07:27 AM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,243,847 times
Reputation: 32251
Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359 View Post
...there is a dearth of STEM graduates. Nothing will really be done that will change things though.
No, there isn't. If there were a shortage, engineering salaries would be increasing much faster than the rate of inflation.


The "engineering shortage" is made up. I wonder why that is?
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Old 12-02-2019, 05:46 PM
 
25,556 posts, read 23,889,069 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turf3 View Post
No, there isn't. If there were a shortage, engineering salaries would be increasing much faster than the rate of inflation.


The "engineering shortage" is made up. I wonder why that is?
Because it sells. A lot of stuff in the media is made up to constantly get people mad or on edge.
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Old 12-02-2019, 06:30 PM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,243,847 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NyWriterdude View Post
Because it sells. A lot of stuff in the media is made up to constantly get people mad or on edge.
Well, no, I think it's a simple matter of supply and demand. Want something to be cheaper? Increase the supply.
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Old 12-02-2019, 10:57 PM
 
4,484 posts, read 9,268,133 times
Reputation: 5770
Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359 View Post
There are students who score straight A's in every high school math class and than have trouble managing a C in the math classes at the University.

I'm addressing this comment more than I am the OP.

I am a math tutor. Most of my students are high school and below, but I occasionally work with college students.
Students are able to get A's and B's in high school math because the teachers allow them to retake the tests and because they are allowed to use "cheats" on the tests. Generally the teacher hands out 3-by-5 cards and allows the students to fill them up however they want. Short term, this helps them "succeed," but the long-term result is that they go through the math classes without really learning much at all.
The students I have helped with calculus (college) and precalculus (HS and college) ran into trouble because they had not mastered topics they should have learned in Algebra 1 and 2. Sure, they'd done a chapter on logarithms, but they'd never really understood them. Yeah, cosine sounds familiar, isn't it something over something? . . . They couldn't solve quadratic equations by any method, though they should have learned at least three in Algebra 1. Quadratic formula? Huh? They'd forgotten how to factor polynomials, if they'd ever learned. Even their grasp of linear equations was shaky.
These were good students who cared about their grades and were diligent to do what the teachers assigned. But in high school, the teachers apparently didn't assign much.
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Old 12-03-2019, 04:29 AM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,243,847 times
Reputation: 32251
Quote:
Originally Posted by sll3454 View Post
I'm addressing this comment more than I am the OP.

I am a math tutor. Most of my students are high school and below, but I occasionally work with college students.
Students are able to get A's and B's in high school math because the teachers allow them to retake the tests and because they are allowed to use "cheats" on the tests. Generally the teacher hands out 3-by-5 cards and allows the students to fill them up however they want. Short term, this helps them "succeed," but the long-term result is that they go through the math classes without really learning much at all.
The students I have helped with calculus (college) and precalculus (HS and college) ran into trouble because they had not mastered topics they should have learned in Algebra 1 and 2. Sure, they'd done a chapter on logarithms, but they'd never really understood them. Yeah, cosine sounds familiar, isn't it something over something? . . . They couldn't solve quadratic equations by any method, though they should have learned at least three in Algebra 1. Quadratic formula? Huh? They'd forgotten how to factor polynomials, if they'd ever learned. Even their grasp of linear equations was shaky.
These were good students who cared about their grades and were diligent to do what the teachers assigned. But in high school, the teachers apparently didn't assign much.
\
Yep, I remember there were a few students when I was a freshman, who went into Math 101 thinking it would be easy after all their straight As in high school and they got a big surprise when the first quiz came back with a 3 or 11 out of 100. Wake up kiddies, you're playing with the big kids now.
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