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Is math education racist? Debate rages over changes to how US teaches the subject
Yahoo! News ^ | December 7, 2021 | Gary Stern

Posted on 12/07/2021 9:21:13 PM PST by Trump20162020

As many students of color struggle with the subject, schools are altering instruction - sometimes amid intense debate.

Students practice equations through singing, dancing and drawing. Activities are sculpted around their hobbies and interests: anime, gaming, Minecraft. Problem-solving is a team sport, rather than an individual sprint to the right answer.

Ebri, a math teacher and tech specialist for Duval County Schools in Florida, is using new techniques designed to promote equity. If kids of color, girls and low-income students engage, they'll be more likely to pursue high-level math classes, the argument goes. That can open doors to competitive colleges and lucrative careers.

After Ebri switched to emphasizing real-world problems and collaboration, her students, most of whom are Black, improved their scores on Florida's math exam in 2020-21 – even with 1 in 3 learning from home.

(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: math
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Repeat after me: the Democratic Party is all about science-based policies.
Search results (those only go back to 2014) with "math", "mathematical", or "mathematics" in the titles, sorted:

61 posted on 12/08/2021 10:00:00 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: August West
Please share the name of that Calculus textbook! I was always good at math, but for various reasons I had no idea of what Calculus even was!

Though I purchased the book in a college bookstore... it was actually not a textbook. It was a book meant to introduce people to what calculus actually was and started with examples of rates of change such as the speed and trajectory of a rocket. But it went on to explore various areas of calculus in a way that made them more interesting to me.

I have searched my bookshelves again with no luck and searched on Amazon and Google. I purchased the copy many years ago and am aware of no revisions. It is surprising the number of introductory Calculus books available, but when looking at previews or paging through them none seem to be as interesting to me. Hopefully I will recall the name of the titles one of these days.

62 posted on 12/08/2021 10:01:04 AM PST by fireman15
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To: wintertime

I was thinking about it more for my son. He graduated from high school this year, but trying to learn calculus via Zoom did not work out very well for him. He is taking some time off from school right now, but he will probably need to re-take calculus.

Maybe he should work on Saxon pre-calculus before re-taking calculus?


63 posted on 12/08/2021 11:18:24 AM PST by ConjunctionJunction (Vim vi repellere licet)
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To: Trump20162020

In other news... China surprises U.S. with test of hypersonic missile.


64 posted on 12/08/2021 11:23:26 AM PST by CodeJockey (Think for yourself. (While it's still legal))
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To: fireman15

I wish you could find that book too. Calculus is where I hit my wall in maths.


65 posted on 12/08/2021 11:30:13 AM PST by colorado tanker
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To: ConjunctionJunction

About your son....in 1985 I was given the chance to return to college to take what I wanted to take: Electrical Engineering. I’d been working 3 jobs for 12 years since high school to make ends meet and NOT studying math and now found I’d be pitted against some of the best of the best, hot shots just out of high school advanced classes. You may want to try this with your son but he HAS TO be motivated to do it(i.e. want it badly!). Youtube did not exist, nor did internet....hardly.

1. Purchased Schuams Pre-Calculus book, The Problem Solver Pre-Calculus book, and a couple of others used in the best high schools in the area. Spent 4 to 6 hours a day forcing myself through ALL of those books, working problems, checking answers, teaching myself. Review of algebra helps.

After that:
2. Purchased a few Schuams Calculus books, The Problem Solver Calculus book, and a book suggested by a genius physics prof(Teacher of the Year at every place he worked), Dr. David Derbes)...Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson. Also got a couple of older Calculus texts out of the college library and kept renewing them all semester. Again, spent 3 to 6 hours PER DAY going through those to “get sharp” and catch up. Got VERY LUCKY and, besides Dr. Derbes for physics, another genius appeared as my Engineering Calculus instructor for 2 semesters: Dr. Gary Sod. Both of those instructors inspired us to LOVE to learn, showed us what was important, and shared enthusiasm for math and physics.

The above method, work, and 2 great teachers let me graduate 7th in my class(Freshman EE’s 300, Senior EE’s 27 left). Would not have made a 32+ year career with the above happening or the work put into it.

Good luck. He has to “be hungry” and “want to do it” to get through the math and become a closet math lover. For higher math, he may want to look into Oliver Heaviside. He had no college degree but was a math wizard who simplified complex math into algebra allowing many “impossible” problems to be tackled. All of his books are in my library.

I’ll put links in the next post.


66 posted on 12/08/2021 11:39:50 AM PST by JCL3 (As Richard Feynman might have said, this is reality taking precedence over public relations.)
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To: JCL3

Precalculus:
The Schaum’s “Outline” series and “Solved Problems” are the better ones. I avoided “Dummy” series as I did not desire even thinking about calling myself that.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Schuam%27s+pre-calculus&ref=nb_sb_noss

REA Problem Solvers for Pre-Calculus: not inexpensive, possibly try used bookstores and/or eBay.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Problem+Solvers+pre-calculus&ref=nb_sb_noss

Calculus:
Schuams: even have 1 with a video included.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=schaums+calculus&crid=2Q56Y98T1LVAI&sprefix=Schuams+calculus%2Caps%2C262&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_16
Problem Solvers:
If he has to take math above Calc 1 and Calc 2, the Problem Solver Differential Equation book is useful.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Problem+Solvers+calculus&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Calculus Made Easy
This is the one I used
https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-Silvanus-Thompson/dp/0312114109/
Newer edition:
https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-2020-New/dp/B08QLSWHYY/

Oliver Heaviside:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Oliver+Heaviside&i=stripbooks

Dr. Derbes, physics prof I had, pointed out many “smart” folks to us in his lectures including Richard Feynman, the guy who simplified the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster by placing a piece of the Morton Thiokol rubber O-ring material into a glass of ice water then removing it and breaking it showing how brittle it got under extreme cold conditions. The launch managers were exposed and the engineers they ignored were vindicated. Not listening to your workers input is a bad idea no matter where you are in life.
If your son is required to take physics, he may enjoy some of these...I did and still have them.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Richard+Feynman


67 posted on 12/08/2021 12:00:54 PM PST by JCL3 (As Richard Feynman might have said, this is reality taking precedence over public relations.)
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To: JCL3

Correction to first post:

Would not have made a 32+ year career WITHOUT the above happening or the work put into it.


68 posted on 12/08/2021 12:05:54 PM PST by JCL3 (As Richard Feynman might have said, this is reality taking precedence over public relations.)
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To: ConjunctionJunction

I recommend starting at the 4/5 level.

If he is already well grounded in basic arithmetic it will take little time for him to get through the lower level books.

Saxon Math builds skills in a careful and organized manner. By doing all the books he will have a solid foundation to succeed in calculus.

Personally, I worked through all the books because I was bored doing sudoku while my husband was windsurfing. I have enjoyed it so much that I plan to study calculus and physics for scientist, math, and engineering majors at our local community college.


69 posted on 12/08/2021 4:31:52 PM PST by wintertime ( Behind every government school teacher stand armed police.( Real bullets in those guns on the hip!))
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To: ConjunctionJunction; JCL3

I agree with JCL3. Your son needs to be motivated.


70 posted on 12/08/2021 4:36:15 PM PST by wintertime ( Behind every government school teacher stand armed police.( Real bullets in those guns on the hip!))
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To: Hodar
-- Is a transistor racist? --

The PNP ones are. The NPN ones, not so much.

71 posted on 12/08/2021 4:38:54 PM PST by Cboldt
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To: Trump20162020
This is important work. It has been suggested before by scholars aware of the Meyers-Briggs learning types—not everyone is a linear thinker. People learn and process information in a variety of ways.
72 posted on 12/08/2021 7:30:28 PM PST by Albion Wilde (Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude. --Frederick Douglass)
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