Posted on 10/07/2023 3:40:59 AM PDT by george76
After a year of remote algebra, Diego Fonseca struggled with advanced algebra. Despite a week at George Mason University's Math Boot Camp, the would-be computer science major failed the math placement test to qualify for calculus four times. He didn't know the basics.
Across the country, more students are placing into pre-college math, reports AP's Collin Binkley. "At many universities, engineering and biology majors are struggling to grasp fractions and exponents."
At George Mason in Northern Virginia, fewer would-be STEM majors are getting into calculus and more are failing, he writes.
“We’re talking about college-level pre-calculus and calculus classes, and students cannot even add one-half and one-third,” said Maria Emelianenko, chair of George Mason’s math department.
At Temple, the number of students placed into intermediate algebra, the equivalent of ninth-grade math, has nearly doubled, writes Binkley. It's the lowest option for STEM majors.
In a softball quiz at the start of last year's fall semester, students were asked to subtract eight from negative six, recalls Jessica Babcock. “I graded a whole bunch of papers in a row. No two papers had the same answer, and none of them were correct.”
“It’s not just that they’re unprepared, they’re almost damaged,” said Brian Rider, Temple’s math chair. “I hate to use that term, but they’re so behind.”
Professors tried "expanded office hours, a new tutoring center, pared-down lessons focused on the essentials," writes Binkley. "But students didn’t come for help, and they kept getting D’s and F’s."
This year, Babcock hopes redesigning the algebra class to focus on "active learning" will help. "Class will be more of a group discussion, with lots of problems worked in-class."
George Mason also is offering active learning, and the option to take a slower-paced math class that takes two terms instead of one.
Fonseca failed the placement test four times, again placing in pre-calculus. He'd need at least one extra semester to catch up on math. He decided to start at community college instead. Using what he'd learned in boot camp, he placed into calculus.
Using Common Core Math, the answer is -2.
We used to do our own work. These days, it is group work. Rather it’s the one smart student giving the answers to the rest of the group. Snort, people wonder why the US is dropping further and further down the world’s educational levels.
became a high school math teacher as my last career - 1st day in the classroom I was 49 years old. Those students that struggled with math (most) had NO concept of the basic number line. Nothing in basic arithmetic makes much sense without any relationship to the number line.
For 18 years Calculus was used daily in my field of weapons work. All of us would rely on a stupid calculator to do the simple math because we had nearly forgotten how to perform it while ding all the higher stuff.
I cannot use all the correct words to say how GRATEFUL I am for going to a one room school in rural Wisconsin.
YOU ARE CORRECT. Didn’t take me 5 seconds-—& I graduated HS in 1957.
Same thing with eating WHAT you want WHEN you want. I tend to “GRAZE” all day.
My cousin & her husband visited here about 16 years ago.
We had a nice dinner-—and they were too full for desert-—so we all had good nights sleep.
The next Am, after feeding all the 6 horses, I asked them what they wanted for breakfast—I had a good array of options.
Husband couldn’t decide.
I said: We are adults-—”WE CAN HAVE WHATEVER WE PLEASE-—
EVEN ROOT BEER FLOATS IF WE WISH”.....HE couldn’t stop laughing and saying “THAT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD”. SO WE DID THAT !!!!
He died a couple of years ago & my cousin and I still laugh about that morning.
YAY!
Now, you want a challenge, teach them the use of an old-fashioned slide rule. With trig functions, log, and a log log scale. All analog, no digital at all.
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You beat me to it. Slide rules Rule.
Been relearning them. Last I used them was back in high school, fifty-some years ago.
The public schools have failed in the United States.
There is more emphasis on leftist propaganda than reading, writing, history, science, and math.
First, close the doors of the department of education.
There should be 3 test during a child’s education.
5 grade, 9 grade, and 12 grade. You don’t pass you get held back. Start teaching shop trades again.
Here’s my math on that. Get the electricians to borrow the panel and breakers from work, buy a case of beer, get electricians to install panel. Weld up pipe bumpers for electricians, drink beer and have bbq.
Total cost $22
I cut it into 1/8 slices before eating it all.
I’m on a diet.
Today...just a plain old Delmonico...
I know that this is a math thread, but that is a tautology.
belongs totally to the states..........
Funny. When I started Georgia Tech in 1977, they still used slide rules but they quickly started to disappear with calculators like the TI-55 or the more expensive HP35.
That said, during one Chemistry class test we were asked on a question to calculate the number of moles in a substance and given two numbers to multiply was all that need be done. I laughed when I realized WHY that question - all the calculators were flashing “E” for error, over capacity.
Professor had included it to demonstrate the power of logarithms (adding two logs is multiplying, etc.). With a slide rule it was a few second process and I got the answer with the slide rule I could only afford at the time. But I very soon there after went digital. Graduated in 1980 - 12 straight quarters for a BSEE from The North Avenue Trade School (as we called it).
I don't remember ever seeing a calculator in college and that was up through 1978.
The office I worked in didn't get a computer until around the mid '80s, IIRC. That was 2 floppy drives, all line code commands, no GUIs, no internet, no Office. Didn't have a mouse. Only 3 or 4 us figured out to use it to any practical effect. ;O)
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