Posted on 07/21/2017 5:12:11 AM PDT by C19fan
Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree — particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.
It is also the single most failed course in community colleges across the country. So if you're not a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, math), why even study algebra?
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
NPR is basically insinuating the black and brown people lack the intellectual capacity to understand basic algebra.
One does not need algebra to receive a welfare check.
But rules are racist. Or something.
Or let algebra/calculus separate the wheat from the chaff.
I love geometry, but I am allergic to algebra.
My highest high school math class was Algebra I. I didn’t go to college until I was 23. I lost a lot of what I learned about algebra during those years, so I had to take a remedial math class my first semester. I felt dumb just sitting in there. The class was chock full of idiots. With minimal study, I was able to pass it and then the following college algebra class. Math requires two things. A competent instructor and a student that is willing to learn.
You’ve got it backwards.
The single equal sign assigns the left side to the right which increments variable ‘a’ by 1.
The double compares. Since the value can’t equal itself plus 1, the comparison is always false.
Xs and Ys are so Transphobic!
“I tested with a high IQ and was lousy at math in general”
Same here. Once I became a teacher and aware of SpEd placement, I realized that if there had been a SpEd Program when I went to school I would have been recommended for ‘services’. When performance is well below IQ, ‘services’ are made available.
I really struggled with upper level math. The math struggle made chemistry which I found fascinating difficult.
Those hours spent on math would be so much better spent in another “studies” course which have contributed so much to our great nation. Everybody sign up for “I Am a Victim 101” and “Grievance Mongering 200.”
Besides, why take the hard route of actually studying math when you can simply announce “I identify as a mathematician”?
I attended a graduation at Smith College a few years ago. A retiring mathematics professor was honored during the ceremony. When introducing him, the president of Smith (a female, of course) said that math was hard for women.
I almost fell out of my chair when she said that!
Ah, but you can be sure that their kids will learn it. It's yours and mine they're targeting.
And the dumbing down of America continues. All so certain protected groups of perpetual victims can feel better about themselves.
“Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree — particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.”
Back when my oldest kid was cleaning up in the Math Olympics and Spelling Bees (he was home schooled...without using a calculator), everyone else competing (and doing well) was white - with ONE EXCEPTION, which was the Imani School. All black Christian School. Since it’s private, no one gives a damn. I never heard of it either, but they were CLEANING UP in all subjects, stuff you can’t cheat in, such as spelling and math. Beyond that the kids were the best behaved of everyone there. They quietly took their seats when told, didn’t talk to each other didn’t play Game Boys, and were just angels. Well, almost, they had no issue being kids and cheering as their classmates won medals.
So, sorry, no one will ever convince me that minorities cannot measure up - to me it is clear that our public schools fail blacks (and other minorities) BY DESIGN - to keep them dependent on government.
http://www.imanischool.org/student-life/victories.cfm
Two reasons. One is that Chinese and Japanese think in symbols already. The other is that education is highly prized in Confucian culture.
Education used to be highly prized when our culture was primarily Aristotelian, but Plato-Marxists want dependent schlubs who need Guardians to keep them in the Cave, not thoughtful citizens with equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
People with lower IQ will struggle with algebra.
Actually, nothing further from truth.
As a person who has had opportunity to observe psychological tests on hundreds of people, significantly higher accomplishment of/ aptitude for either math or verbal is present. But rarely both.
There is no correlation of Math aptitude to I.Q.
The good Lord spreads out in telling gifts his way.
People with lower IQ will struggle with algebra.
Actually, nothing further from truth.
As a person who has had opportunity to observe psychological tests on hundreds of people, significantly higher accomplishment of/ aptitude for either math or verbal is present. But rarely both.
There is no correlation of Math aptitude to I.Q.
The good Lord spreads out in telling gifts his way.
>>Al-Gebra, contrary to President Obama, being one of the only real contributions of Arabs to civilization
Diophantus might beg to differ.
Something not often mentioned is that one of the divisions between people is that some have brains wired to comprehend “abstracts”, symbolic representations of other things, be they mathematical, musical, or many other things. Other people have brains that have different wiring, so abstracts are difficult at best, and they will never develop great skill with them, because they can’t.
Importantly, basic mathematics and geometry, as well as a little basic musical notation can be taught to most everyone, but only those wired to understand it will be able to take it further.
For this reason, skills such as algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and advanced geometry should only be taught to those with an aptitude for it. In turn careers dependent on knowing these abstracts are limited to those who can master them.
Otherwise you have the “Pearls before Swine” rule, that you may offer expensive pearls to pigs, but it just wastes your time and annoys the pigs.
And please divorce the idea that such abstracts are indicative of intelligence. Or talent. Or creativity. Or success in many endeavors.
Many musicians “play by ear”, and are able to replicate the notes played and the spirit in which they are played, or better, but are incapable of reading sheet music. And most can use the basic parts of the notation as guides, but have no connection between them and music they play other than in timing.
So the bottom line is that while algebra is used as a discriminator of scholarship, it is a poor one, so it should be taught instead to those who grasp it, allowing them to go further in its study without being delayed by those who cannot.
My HS algebra teacher said we would likely never use algebra and compared it to pushing a blocking sled in football. Great for fundamentals but the actual work is useless. He was a coach and failed to understand the skills required in technical positions, including the trades.
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