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college prepared to take serious science and engineering courses, yet many don’t. Our math teaching is half a century out of date, and without math there is no STEM.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 ...
The difference between middle class and rich is mainly “ART”.
Many rich live in beautiful houses, richly furnished.
Middle class folks live in functional boxes that met building codes.
Rate of change not range of change?
In ten years 50% of Stem Graduates will be Women, and God help Science.
Competence in teaching anything must include knowledge of the importance / application of what you are teaching.
I admit to being a little slow on the uptake but it has taken parts of a career to make things like hydraulics and electrical engineering come alive and the mathematics to do those things relevant and intuitive. I have been reminded so / too many times how much I hated college because the professors were not interested in teaching at all. Just a few and we really appreciated them.
They don’t teach they regurgitate in pidgin engrish and demonstrate how smart they thikk they are and they are monopolizing academia.
But does the rate or range of change fall mainly in the plain?
Be a Lineman, they get bank and are union.
I have long held the position that the study of logic is more important to a programmer than advanced mathematics (beyond algebra). However, many traditional colleges fail to include such studies in their programs. Thus many comp sci degrees are viewed with suspicion as the real world application of their degree is often limited.
One person that I know personally, received their comp sci degree from a state technical college. They were hired to stand up a MS SQL server cluster for the company and failed at the effort. He could code SQL but could not administer a server.
Lots of blame to go around for that particular mess and not all was related to math or logic or even programming. Just an observation that study in one area, does not always lead to success. I am of the opinion that such knowledge has to be balanced with real world application of those skills and the related use of the tools needed to execute those efforts. I would not value a programmer who could code but not use a CASE tool or had little experience working a project oriented shop.
Preferably one from Wichita!
A large majority of engineering students are or were in the armed services. My son's lab partners in two different classes were in the service — one was a Navy Seal (served in Iraq), and the other was in the Air Force. Both are ambitious and very hard working — a very good example for my son.
In my experience, people who have served make very good engineers. :)
In Spain.
I turn down contracts every year.
My son is working on his EE right now. He has completed his sciences and math and is a year into his EE classes. He is doing very well (better than I did, lol).
Me? BSEE. Those 5 years were tough but, like you, I have benefited greatly.
The applied sciences offer very good career options. :)
Limit all government student loans to STEM. No more loans for lawyers, social justice advocates, or diplomats.
Most people who have served make good employees in general.
Non-coms and junior officers who have served with distinction make especially good employees. The problem many of them have is understanding how their military experience is relevant and how to sell it. Too many potential employers are clueless what is demanded of military front line leadership.
I actually had one COO tell me that military officers aren’t accustomed to working long hours. I set him straight and told him to tell my Air Force combat pilot son that. He typically worked 14 hour days with many longer than that in the midst of an exercise. The expectation of them is ZERO mistakes and they live under a magnifying glass that looks for any chink. Add to that the last decade of oppressive political correctness.
Not really.
The infrastructure has been gamed in a way which makes it impossible, in many states, to use the talent we have.
In the Northeastern and West Coast US, a retired engineer who wants to teach AP Calculus--something he could do in his sleep--is disqualified because he doesn't have a teaching certification. That's a crime perpetrated against the next generation in order to insure that idiots who can barely do algebra continue to have jobs.
>>They need to know how to do arithmetic, algebra, geometry... and if they are real advanced trig<<
Funny, that’s all the math I got in high school (with a little solid geometry thrown in) .......... SIXTY YEARS AGO.
As an applied mathematician I use calculus and differential equations to solve problems in math, engineering, physics, biology, and chemistry. I even had calculus and differential equations in some of my management science courses. Calculus is very useful in the real world.
I was a Business major with a concentration in programming. And I have an Accounting degree. So no Math really
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