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 ...
Dude, --var and var-- are needed!
Morse is a lost art which makes it dangerous again, most people could not copy it BUT you just feed it into a computer now and it will break the code fore you and print it on the screen
In my short bout teaching after school classes, I have found that students are often the impediment to the learning process, closely followed by their parents.
And statistics.
There is no way to understand statistics without a solid understanding of algebra.
Of course most people doing statistics are just putting in numbers and have no understanding of what they are doing.
Somebody let me know when the crack the shortwave numbers stations.
I was a crypto tech and I cant figure it out LOL
Ah yes I remember these simple equations when I was a kid.
http://www.amplify.com/assets/viewpoints/making-algebra-actually-mean-something.jpg
Been hanging out with John Crichton a bit much?
I had to check who wrote this. I wondered if this was an old thread and I had written it. I LOVED algebra and hated geometry. I used to solve equations for fun with my father. Some of my best memories.
I took a psychology class in 1973. Our professor was from England and had just come over.
He told us he was surprised that the department had a very new and expensive machine.
He passed it around the class and we all looked at it etc. I have no idea what it could do but it was about the size of medium sized book.
That was the first calculator I had ever seen. In 1975 I bought what at the time was a nice one. I think it cost $70 and was a Sears brand but was identical to a Rockwell brand so I am sure they just rebranded it.
Now I have purchased many calculators over the years and all the early lcd display ones have gone bad. I don’t think any of them last much more than 10 years. About a year ago I got that old Sears model out and it still works.
At first a few keys were balky but they began to work perfectly with just a little use. It takes 4 AA batteries. It has a bright green led display. I think it will work for many more years.
Have to recruit T.I. to keep the alpha-numeric in proper form at Dallas.
They’re restricted to reading venn for finding common ground.
I have never worked for them but Jack Kilby changed the world.
If we did that we would be dumber than the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Hebrews.
They used geometry and algorithmic methods to accomplish many of the same things which later became algebra (think Pythagoras, Euclid, and Diophantus).
THAT MEANS that a contemporary of Jesus probably could do the equivalent of algebra in figuring out dimensions of tables, costs per unit of things, how long it would take to walk from A to B.
Jesus even chided some of his disciples that any sensible individual would not begin construction of a tower without calculating if he had enough money and supplies to complete it. (Luke 14:28)
So, we are sort of expected by the Lord to have enough sense to think algebraically, logically, and in an abstract manner.
Otherwise the New Covenant would have been out of reach intellectually for the ancient Hebrews, whose religion necessitated animal sacrifice and other primitive features.
Note as well how many of the parables were of a very abstract nature.
There also was the passage of John (10:30 and 14:11) where Jesus states the unity of the Father and Son (The Father is in me and I am in Him. The Father and I are one.) In fact, proving one set is a subset of another, and vice versa, is a standard way in math of proving the equality of two sets or objects or things.
So John 10:30 and 14:11 taken together was a very strong statement of the logical, set-theoretical, algebraical consistency of the Word with one of the foundations of mathematics.
We should no more be abandoning mathematics than we should be abandoning our study of science, law, music, or anything else, including our Faith.
We are supposed to take all of our brainpower and use it to the greatest good, not squander it in a slovenly manner just because some New York City postmodern bonehead pseudoprofessor says we don't need it anymore.
Yes, Algebra I is good for a thought process and to solve easy problems. Much beyond that is useless for non-mathematicians.
I didn’t see that many learn to think and reason, but they should have from advanced math. It’s above the level of most, or they lack the desire to study.
There are many American high schools where the AVERAGE IQ is 85, and where lots of students are in the 70s.
These schools can only require algebra if they falsify the test results, which is what happens now.
School and college administrators are big advocates for passing failing students. They say the “failing” is the fault of the instruction.
Say, where are the people who are never gonna make you cry, the people who are never gonna say goodbye, and the people who are never gonna tell a lie and hurt you?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.