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Locked on 12/14/2022 9:10:48 PM PST by Jim Robinson, reason:
Flame wars |
Posted on 12/13/2022 3:57:49 AM PST by DFG
The Kansas Board of Regents is considering stripping specific university math requirements after it was found that a significant percentage of college freshmen fail algebra, NPR affiliate KCUR reported.
The Regents, who oversee the system’s six public universities, are considering implementing the Math Pathways approach which matches students to a math course based on their major instead of mandating algebra for all incoming students. While many universities require that all freshmen pass algebra as a prerequisite for graduation, one in three Kansas students reportedly fail the course, which could delay a student’s graduation.
Daniel Archer, vice president of academic affairs for the Kansas Board of Regents, said that algebra is not always necessary for many students. Only 20 percent of majors require higher-level math beyond algebra, KCUR reported.
“We’re sending the majority of students down the college algebra road, which is really not necessary,” Archer said. “It’s not practical. It’s not really needed. And it’s not relevant for their fields.”
he Math Pathways approach offers students the option of taking alternatives to algebra such as statistics and quantitative reasoning, according to its 2018 brief. Its summary claims that algebra is a “gatekeeper to higher education for students not majoring in a math-heavy field.”
(Excerpt) Read more at tennesseestar.com ...
I found statistics to b much harder than algebra….and I went all the way through advanced algebra.
“Anyone who’s taken even one course taught by someone who actually knows the material understands why even good students fail with poor teachers.”
My husband (Physicist) tutored a girl in our church who was a freshman in high school who couldn’t catch on to the math. He showed her how to do the work and arrive at the correct answer; she understood. (The method she was being “taught” was to plug in an answer to a software program on a laptop. It didn’t need to make sense; it just had to be the right answer.)
Bad news is that when she got to school and started to do well she explained it to the teacher. Teacher was shown up (she didn’t understand the math), got mad at the girl, and had her switched to another class.
University students struggling with algebra?! A subject they should have mastered in ninth grade! If they flunk it, they flunk it. They can take it again.
Like journalism, education, and gender studies majors.
College Deans are becoming like car salesman, “what do I need to do to get you this shiny new diploma”.
Hmmm...... no math?
No job here
QED
Not knowing some of those terms, I flunked!
LOL!
What is unsaid in the article is the “significant percentage of freshman” consists of about 80% blacks that were admitted based on Affirmative Action.
This is just cover to keep from acknowledging that the program was an abject failure.
Perhaps one in three Kansas students SHOULDN'T BE IN COLLEGE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
Really. My stat required calculus in HS.
> considering stripping specific university math requirements
Why have any tests at all? Pass everyone to be fair.
I graduated High School circa 1980 ... I had studied (and learned) algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and had an introduction to calculus.
For quite some time, if you were proficient in math, there were many jobs available outside of teaching.
And those who could have been math teachers were finding jobs outside of K-12, leaving others less skilled to teach the subject.
So, the irony is that many people believe math to be of little practical use, while its practicality leads to a shortage of proficient teachers.
Exactly, just be sure to deposit the tuition checks and process the student loans so the professors and administrators get their pay. Don't even think about tapping the endowment, that way the institution and donors get their tax deductions so the taxpayers get to pay their "fair share".
You probably do use it as all of it is taught as foundation in traditional math from early grades. We just don’t realize it.
I believe separating sections of mathematics with individual terms is the by product of “standards” for specific ages of introduction into those sections of math.
The problem is that human beings develop areas of their brains at different ages and what one eleven year old may have begun to develop the logic/analyzing side of their brain, another child of thirteen may not have.
I f mathematics were taught practically and with relative examples instead of abstract representations, children would develop a much better foundation early on and actually enjoy the process.
1) This article is about people in college, a category which does not include you. With all due respect, your experience is not relevant.
2) Algebra requires (and teaches) abstract, logical thinking. People who cannot think logically and in the abstract are really unfit for self-governance.
3) I have found knowledge of languages other than English useful for two reasons. Such knowledge provides insight into the origins and correct meaning of English words. Such knowledge has also given some insight into cultures other than my own, and an understanding of why some people do the things they do. If this is of no value to you, personally, that's fine. But again, College (and even High School) isn't for everybody.
Algebra is really not even that difficult at this level. Now if they are talking Calculus II and III I might agree.
Bttt
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