Posted on 03/07/2006 10:12:59 AM PST by RBroadfoot
None, according to Richard Cohen of the Washington Post.
EXCERPT: I am haunted by Gabriela Ocampo. ... failing algebra six times in six semesters, trying it a seventh time and finally just despairing over ever getting it.
The L.A. school district now requires all students to pass a year of algebra ...
Here's the thing, Gabriela: You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it. ...
Gabriela, sooner or later someone's going to tell you that algebra teaches reasoning. This is a lie propagated by, among others, algebra teachers. Writing is the highest form of reasoning. This is a fact. Algebra is not. The proof of this, Gabriela, is all the people in my high school who were whizzes at math but did not know a thing about history and could not write a readable English sentence. ...
Algebra ruined many a day for me. Now it could ruin your life.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I never said you were deprived. You asked a question. I answered it. Any time you "figure out" something by doing math on the numbers you are given, you are performing algebra.
SD
I'm 42 and taking it at the local college. (I want to go into a cardio vascular tech course and you can't start the course without having it first.)
Its hard , I had to start all the way at the bottom in 05 Math. You have to have a really good teacher. You also have to remember every stinking math rule they teach you.
This week we are factoring polyinomials...fun fun
y = Because I said so.
I agree with that...yet I was called idiotic for admitting I do not excel in a subject many people struggle with. If a person struggles in word recognition from dislexia, are they idiotic?
That depends on the teacher.
Not only that but without using algebra he woulndn't know how much paint was needed to complete the job. From bargain shopping, to home improvements projects, craft projects and general deductive reasoning, more algebra is used than most people ever dream of.
As a jeweler, I use algebra every day to calculated gold content at current market values. I have to explain the math to more and more people lately as gold prices have been going up.
I see such a decline in people being able to figure stuff out if they are not in front of a keyboard that it scares me. My brother is a MBA yet he is amazed that I can measure something, cut it and it fits without all the trial and error. It is all just basic algebra.
You're asking me? I can't even spell
" difference".
I just mean the level of math. I understand it can be hard for kids but it's not that bad
If Tito is issued X number of condoms in his health science course, how many gay prostitutes can he have sex with before he realizes he contracted AIDS because of George W. Bush?
I can do this by reading and using simple addition and subtraction
That's the simple algebra high schoolers are being asked to solve.
All you have to do is . . . read, and then do basic arithmetic to both sides of an equation.
For instance, an 8-oz bottle of your favorite shampoo is selling for $3.20, while a 12-oz bottle of the same shampoo is selling for $5.40. Which one is a good deal?
Usually we do algebra on our heads, and we solve the problem.
In a classroom, you will have to solve two equations.
8 x = 3.20The small bottle sells at 40 cents per ounce.
x = 3.20 / 8
x = 0.40
12 x = 5.40The big bottle sells for 45 cents per ounce. Not a good deal. End of algebra
x = 5.40 / 12
x=45
Yes, I have had to use Algebra for things, but that is not typical. Most people just don't have any use for it. As for the common arguments that it aids reasoning and problem solving, I would submit that these skills can be acquired through other topics--topics more relevant to whatever the student actually intends to do.
This is one of the symptoms of modern education. Everyone is to be treated exactly the same and made into a Renaissance Man. The problem is that people are not that uniform. People don't learn in the same ways and do not need to know all of the same things. Today this is more true than ever.
Was Teddy driving?
It is vital in proofs of real and complex analysis, along with trig, unless one wishes to prove everything such as the quadratic formula and the double angle formula every time.
Base 16 hexidecimal is the basis for mainframe computing. I remember the years of tracing through COBOL core dumps looking for my S0C7 error.
-PJ
My son has worked in construction for the past four summers, and I've seen his math grades improve as a result. He plans to be a home builder after he earns a BS in Business Administration (he's a college freshman this year).
I loved algebra and was a straight A student. However, in my high school -- this was 1962 -- girls did not take trig. Times have changed.
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