Posted on 03/28/2016 5:07:09 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Who needs algebra?
That question muttered by many a frustrated student over the years has become a vigorous debate among American educators, sparked by a provocative new book that argues required algebra has become an unnecessary stumbling block that forces millions to drop out of high school or college.
“One out of 5 young Americans does not graduate from high school. This is one of the worst records in the developed world. Why? The chief academic reason is they failed ninth-grade algebra,” said political scientist Andrew Hacker, author of “The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions.”
Hacker, a professor emeritus at Queens College, argues that, at most, only 5 percent of jobs make use of algebra and other advanced math courses. He favors a curriculum that focuses more on statistics and basic numbers sense and less on (y – 3)2 = 4y – 12.
“Will algebra help you understand the federal budget?” he asked. …
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
Doh!
No, it’s a critical building block.
You got the word problems ...
I have seen it mentioned that the questions have been made more difficult over time, to re-normalize the curve such that it’s balanced at 100. That would imply as a group, humans taking the test are becoming smarter over time. Viewpoints?
Why cant the Fed or Bernie Sanders figure out exponential notation? LOL
Algebra is important.
It’s too hard. Algebra is for Japanese, Chinese and German kids. Our kids can’t be stressed and made uncomfortable.
“Kind of important if you are a software engineer.”
The vast majority of computer programmers are not software engineers. They just code until someone says stop. There is zero engineering involved.
A lot of it is the instructor or the curriculum.
I got “the new Math” whoo boy.
Remember seeing an engineering calculator the size of a briefcase back in the 70’s. Ever run across something of like description?
My brother was a math major at Texas Tech. He dropped out in his senior year because he said the math stuff they were teaching him was ethereal and had no connection to reality.
From there, his bona fides got him a six year stint in the US Navy as a radarman. He finished his enlistment and went to General Dynamics, then to Lockheed then to GE Astrospace and retired as a project director.
He went back to Texas Tech and without taking any courses, was awarded his BS degree based on what he had accomplished.
He’s still a doofus to me, though. LOL
They learn math real quick when they do that! LOL
Yes, they do. lol.
LOL
I saw a program on TV last week about the invention of the telegraph and of course Morse Code.
If you think about it, using dots and dashes to create letters thus words was a real precursor to modern computers using binary code.
Only because it’s used ironically ...
Why is there no scientific calculator on a Bill Gates confuser?
It is add subtract multiply divide. very Rubimentary LOL
But they have tools like Excel with pivot tables that are very powerful.
Yet the calculator is like for rubes
Five lines in calculus versus two pages of algebra for the same answer.
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