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‘A Bankrupt Concept of Math’: Some Educators Argue Calculus Should Be Dethroned
The 74 via Yahoo ^ | March 13, 2023 | Jo Napolitano

Posted on 03/13/2023 1:30:37 PM PDT by grundle

Successful completion of high school calculus has long been an unofficial must-have for those seeking admission to the nation’s top colleges: The course has, for decades, served as a signal to admissions officers that a student’s coursework has been robust.

But some in education say it’s time to reconsider this de facto requirement: Many schools — particularly those serving large numbers of Black, Hispanic or low-income students — don’t offer the course. And even when they do, it’s of dubious value, they say.

“High school calculus is a complete waste of time and a form of torture,” said Alan Garfinkel, professor of integrative biology and physiology and medicine at UCLA. “The view … that math is a bunch of symbolic expressions, and you bang on them with tricks to get other symbolic expressions, is a bankrupt concept of math, dating from the 19th century.”

The course, as it’s often taught at the high school level, is inaccessible and often perceived as irrelevant to students’ interests, critics say. Just 16% of high school graduates earned credit for calculus in 2019, according to data culled by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a statistic no doubt shaped by its unavailability.

Only 52% of schools with high student of color enrollment offered the course in 2017-18 compared to 76% of schools with low student of color enrollment, according to a 2021 report from the Learning Policy Institute.

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


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: alangarfinkel; astronomy; calculus; donatefreerepublic; physics; science; stringtheory
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To: Tench_Coxe

Hell bent on the stupidization of our youth


41 posted on 03/13/2023 2:19:47 PM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: grundle

I guess this plays into the maomao’s hands, but requiring mastery of high math is a pretty good proxy for IQ, and a means of separating the wheat from the chaff.

Admittedly, people exist who succeed in language-based fields, or in fine arts, yet lack “math sense”. It would be ridiculous for Schools of Art, Music, etc., to require calculus. For any university program involving science, medicine, engineering, etc., admitting students who can’t handle mathematics is basically cruel; they will not succeed.

If high schools “serving” mostly “minority” students do not offer, or properly teach, higher math, that is something the school boards and superintendents should answer for. If a school has only a handful of aspiring math students, set them up with a dvd or online course. Oh no, problem solved without dumbing down.


42 posted on 03/13/2023 2:19:55 PM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
Calculus was invented by English mathematician Isaac Newton in the 1660s, which is the 17th century.

Let's not forget Euler and Rhiemann.

43 posted on 03/13/2023 2:21:20 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man.)
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To: Rummyfan

He has a PhD in mathematics of some sort.

The last time I knew, if you can even get Calc in high skrewl, it’s an elective.

Nobody is requiring kids to take it in order to get a bogus diploma.


44 posted on 03/13/2023 2:21:24 PM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
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To: Tench_Coxe
Then multiplication and division.

I think they already got rid of those. I read long ago that schools allow students to use calculators during math tests.

45 posted on 03/13/2023 2:21:27 PM PDT by Angelino97
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To: Chewbarkah

Or sweet talk a teacher into offering it to a small class.

Probably won’t be able to do that these days, but it doesn’t hurt to try.


46 posted on 03/13/2023 2:22:43 PM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
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To: Westbrook

When an idiot says that I ask them “ ok, you are driving 60 mph and your destination is 120 miles, how long will it take?”

Majority will say “2 hours” in which I reply, “ that’s algebra”.


47 posted on 03/13/2023 2:22:59 PM PDT by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna!)
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To: Joe Brower

Newton invented it to explain his physics.


48 posted on 03/13/2023 2:24:05 PM PDT by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna!)
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To: Chewbarkah

“requiring mastery of high math is a pretty good proxy for IQ”

For quantitative aptitude, not necessarily verbal, analytical, or performance.


49 posted on 03/13/2023 2:25:11 PM PDT by steve86 (Numquam accusatus, numquam ad curiam ibit, numquam ad carcerem™)
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To: grundle

Higher math is racist. It’s got to go!


50 posted on 03/13/2023 2:25:28 PM PDT by Pelham
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To: Chewbarkah
Admittedly, people exist who succeed in language-based fields, or in fine arts, yet lack “math sense”.

There are all kinds off smarts. Math was easy for me so I went into engineering, But after living overseas for over a decade and failing to master fluently either German or Italian, I have concluded I have no gift for languages (of course, the language at work was English, but that's a lame excuse).

51 posted on 03/13/2023 2:28:42 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man.)
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To: grundle

I’m a registered professional civil engineer. I didn’t take calculus in high school. I completed Calc 1, 2 and 3 and Differential Equations in college. It’s not necessary to take calculus in high school to be a successful engineer, but you damn sure better be on track for taking it your first year of college.


52 posted on 03/13/2023 2:29:59 PM PDT by Roos_Girl (The world is full of educated derelicts. - Calvin Coolidge)
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To: grundle

The DUMBING DOWN continues...


53 posted on 03/13/2023 2:31:38 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: grundle

When I studied for my degree in Computer Science, I had thought that the required basic calculus and multivariable calculus classes that I had to take were a waste of my time. I was interested in database theory and systems design, so why would I ever need that stuff?

Today I use it all the time for programming neural networks for deep learning and pattern recognition: solving systems of equations with partial derivatives, computing gradients, etc.

Calculus is important if you want to get into anything related to AI.


54 posted on 03/13/2023 2:32:32 PM PDT by Gideon7
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To: grundle

Yet they want to require a foreign language.


55 posted on 03/13/2023 2:33:20 PM PDT by alternatives?
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To: Tench_Coxe

Next will be algebra.

Then multiplication and division.

Then reading and writing.


They are all whitey concepts and therefore racist!!! Gimedat!


56 posted on 03/13/2023 2:33:53 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: grundle

high school is supposed to prepare you for college.

If it doesn’t prepare you, then you career options are limited to one that either don’t need a degree or don’t need a serious degree.

The best case scenario is you do well in high school and have a firm foundation to go in ANY direction you choose once you have that figured out.


57 posted on 03/13/2023 2:34:23 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009
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To: Tench_Coxe

Idiocracy is not just a movie, it’s our future!


58 posted on 03/13/2023 2:35:26 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: PallMal

Calculus is required for most (if not all) STEM majors, such as biology.


59 posted on 03/13/2023 2:38:41 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: seowulf
I seem to recall using it quite extensively in my profession.

Same here.

Low academic expectations achieve expected results.

60 posted on 03/13/2023 2:40:27 PM PDT by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never...in nothing, great or small...Winston Churchill)
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