Posted on 12/19/2017 2:44:20 PM PST by RicocheT
"The U.S. is about to spend a small fortune on teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM....That’s a good investment in theory, but the American education system is in no position to make the most of it."
"...Students should reach college prepared to take serious science and engineering courses, yet many don’t. Our math teaching is half a century out of date, and without math there is no STEM. Computer science builds on electronics and “discrete mathematics,” as opposed to the classical type leading to calculus."
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
There are very few teachers who are scholars anymore. Most of them went into teaching because the college curriculum was easy and they wanted jobs in which being fired or laid off would be extremely unlikely.
If we want brilliant STEM students we need briliant STEM teachers. We are extremely lacking in the latter.
Unless you have exceptional skills, do not pursue a STEM degree.
Why?
H-1B and OPT foreign work visas, that's why.
All “average” American STEM graduates will be working for below-market salaries.
And, most “average” American STEM graduates will be evicted from their STEM jobs by age forty.
The University I teach for is able to hire foreign engineering Ph'ds to teach for $50-60k. It is foolish for Americans to get a doctorial degree to compete with this.
1. If you ever coded a mathematical formula, you did math.
2. If you ever had to prove your coded formula was correct, you did math.
3. If you ever had to use a different number base, you did math.
However in your defense, there was almost never a straight up math problem. Only once is 30 years did I actually directly use my advanced math education. An EE and a guy with an MS in Physics had a problem to solve, they found a formula unfortunately for them the targeted solution variable was in the middle of the equation. And my advanced math training kicked in, I reworked their equation solving for the variable, then I knew why math was important. Programmers need the formula given to them in codable format.
BTW, my masters education is software engineering. Spent many an hour using my math skills checking binary and hex programs.
...and Chemical Physics.
Yep. I once worked at a telecommunications equipment company whose early software products were made by engineers who learned programming. When they switched to the opposite philosophy (hiring comp sci grads with no experience in telecommunications) it was a disaster. It took entire departments to do what used to be done by individual engineers.
We used to have a saying:
Those that can’t do, teach.
Those that can’t teach, teach teachers!
I took one art class (cuz I had to) and all I remember is saying “I can’t think of anything to draw” every day.
But I have NEVER run out of ideas of things to BUILD!
Thise who can’t teach or hate teaching become administrators.
Or politicians.
Gads, so sad. Went through HS in the early 70’s. We had intermediate Algebra or trig in freshman year( I was int algebra), drafting/engineering, Bio, anthropology( my elective) and Spanish. It was fun when the electronics guys figured how to blow the transformer and we on the other side had floor plans for the whole school so it was a team effort to get those teachers on Valium and seconal....never mind what fun it was in biology!
The biggest reason math is taught poorly at the K12 level is because learning the basics (as in algebra!) takes effort!
People have no problem justifying hours & hours of sports practice but for math that’s too much to ask of the students, teachers or parents.
Also math results in possible grading consequences that are socially uncomfortable. Though these “uncomfortable results” might be over come by effort. Effort which can no longer be asked for or demanded.
Yep first time I went through math I was using supplemental books from my grandpa in the 1920's and my dad in the 1950's...same formulas, only back then there were few analogies, you either learned or burned.
I have a master’s in engineering and have been a professional engineer for 32 years. I have earned a six figure income for over 25 years. I am happy with the career choice I made, and I regularly speak to groups of high school students about preparing to major in STEM curricula in college.
STEM careers overall are still high-paying and in demand. If you combine a STEM degree with excellent speaking and writing skills, the world can be your oyster.
I’ve had similar problems with Comp Sci grads were they have gone through their curriculum and not take any physical science courses. Some of the code they came up with would have been great if there was no gravity, friction, strength of materials or thermodynamics!
Very well said!
I love those old science & engineering textbooks!
So much better written then those today!
For every engineering job, there are going to be fifty caregiver jobs.
The big money is in medicine.
Schools should be teaching medically related things like medical terminology and anatomy.
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