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 ...
I looked at algebra as a logical thought process
So even though many people won’t need the hard mechanics, the thought process can be applied elsewhere
As I’ve said to the many students I’ve taught algebra, geometry, etc. to over the years, learning math teaches you to think and reason.
Algebra is vital to calculus, which in turn is vital to all the sciences and hence all of our technology. Algebra cannot be separated from statistics either, so Hacker is talking some major doublespeak here.
Actually it is a means of separating out those who ought to go on to college and those who shouldn’t Success in that course has a higher correlation to academic success than the SAT.
I wish that this had been brought up when I was in school:)
That being said yes it is necessary, thankfully I married an engineer who can help our kids with their math homework. I edit the essays.
If we get rid of Algebra in schools, I may have to reverse my opposition to H1B visas, as we’ll need at least some EDUCATED people to run this country (look at what happened to Africa when the colonial powers left).
Maybe Cruz was on to something after all, wanting to increase the H1B’s by 500%.
Some people have a real problem with algebra. Such as something as basic at -2 X -2 = 4. Why isn’t this taught like a double negative in English is?
A2 + 15 = NO!
I run a construction business and I use algebra everyday. Sadly, too many employees have zero algebra skills and I have to make dummy proof calculations on price sheets etc...
I think it’s reasonable to ditch algebra. All these many decades since Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, college Algebra I, college Algebra II, Trig and Logistics, I’ve not used them whatsoever.
Exactly. I guess kids don’t need to learn how to work through a problem if it’s going to cut into their selfie and texting time. We already threw out teaching them how to write. No use teaching the boneheads anything else.
Not needed unless you want to learn how to reason and think logically.
I always did well in Algebra, got A’s in it, never understood why is was so difficult.
But yes, it does weed out, it is a logical though process that many people just don’t grasp
They should take out all the hard stuff. Who cares about reading, riting and rithmetic anyway? Hey, baby, que paso.
Don’t never use no double negatives. Triple negatives are even worse.
I had a calc professor who told us we were there to learn to think.
It certainly helps to factor out a math proof. The way some 8th grade teachers treat it makes some kids argue that Pie are round, not squared.
If you don’t grasp it, you will lose a lot of logical arguments if you are the arguing kind (see DinDus (all colors)).
Y - 4c= T Solve for x
Thinking it was necessary for college, I took trig, analytical geometry and plane geometry in high school.
Never used any of them in college. I did take statistics which required fairly complex figuring.
I always thought plane geometry was the one which encouraged thinking.
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