Posted on 08/31/2023 2:08:44 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Not the pandemic, the government lockdowns. They know very well it does no one any good.
Math is learned by reading the textbook and doing all the problem sets. Seems like it is one of the easier subjects to teach online. Lack of discipline and effort is most likely the problem.
I blame
Affirmative Action
Teachers
Parents
When I went back to college in the mid 80’s kids had problems with math. First year students were required to take a proficiency exam. If you got 6 or fewer answers correct, you had to drop back to Math 094 or 096, depending on how badly you bombed it.
The one prof, who was may age and a friend, said all the professors were miffed because they knew they should not be teaching the basic math the kids were supposed to have learned in junior high much less high school.
Math is so “white”.
If I may…
For many people, it takes a great teacher to unlock things. That teacher can be a parent, a friend, even a credentialed educator. Absent that teacher, things can stay locked. There are some things I didn’t “get” until later in life. This is about the luck of the draw, and no government program can fix that.
There is one other dimension of life not addressed frequently in articles like this, where FReepers invariably bash publik skoolz or pod-eating GenZers. Bluntly, many kids are pushed into college when, frankly, they should learn a trade or go into business for themselves or just go to work.
I know plenty of people who hate math but they’re upstanding, moral citizens. Maybe they’re not econometricians but who really wants to deal with heteroskedasticity or cleaning data. Ok, present company excluded.
I believe the purpose of these articles is to, once again, create animosity. And make Special People feel better that they’re not ‘dumb.” Some people have atrocious grammar. Some people would be lost without a calculator. Some people are in both camps, but they may be magnificent musicians, artists, landscapers, movers. Elitist snobs sniff at punk rockers, Bob Ross, sweaty guys mowing lawns, and the guys carrying their piano, and behind their backs say “I’m glad I’m not like them.”
Yes, I want my senior economist to know the difference between logit and probit, I want my doctor to know how to spell Amoxicillin, and I want my sniper to perform many calculations to land a kill shot from hundreds of yards away. But I don’t want Johnny or Mary to go to college if they can’t hack it. Or if they do, then major in music or theater where you don’t have calculus, and fulfill your manifest destiny instead of making your overbearing flatulent parents Karen and Brandon happy.
Maybe they should work on calculating compound interest.
Just read the headline, but based on that anyone who is in college now should have had a decent grasp of math long before covid. And I say that as someone who is not good at math.
Algebra starts in 2nd grade with fractions...
he cant blame the last 3 years...
Basic math is racist and somehow colleges have turned 2 genders into 100+, can’t define a woman, believe in man made climate change, need safe spaces and can identify as any number of things.
Under performing on math is a minor issue in the big scheme of things.
“College students are still struggling with basic math. Professors blame the pandemic”
They struggled with basic math LONG BEFORE the pandemic.
The bottom line is that every successful math program avoids one thing - CALCULATORS. It’s not complicated, but it’s understandable that calculators won’t be discussed because most ‘teachers’ are Leftists and ‘Math is Hard’ for most Leftists - so they give a kid a calculator and tell him to push buttons...rather than THINK.
I thought exactly the same thing! There’s no way he aced physics but flunked algebra.
Math makes you smarter. algebra.. math makes you smarter=> smart people dont reddit=> people who reddit are stupid. I agree.
“Dems always wanted their slaves dumb and uneducated.”
Considering that most FReepers and something like 80% of Republican voters STILL send their kids to public schools shows that people don’t agree with you, even though you are right.
And that’s the problem, why should the Leftists change anything when even most conservatives will dump their kids into the hands of Leftists, just to get screwed for life?
Computer programmers use algebra.
I went to school at 26 and had to start at Algebra, since I’d forgotten so much. I started in Spring semester, and started Calculus in Fall semester. 3 prep classes to start Calculus 1.
How did he ace the honors physics course in h.s.? it was a garbage course that obviously feed the students the answers to every test question. Ie: they watched a youtube video and spit back what they saw. They got an “A” for staying awake.
I’ll tell this story. I worked in DC in 2010-2013 era. Co-worker had a daughter wrapping up a Maryland high school situation, and angling for a prestigious Virginia public university. Accepted, but the school demanded she take two tests (English and math).
She has straight A’s for three years....fails both English/math tests for the college. Father is there with the counselor....’what the hell is going on’ is the drama playing out.
Girl admits that for the final two years...she took no math whatsoever, and anything related to English was some faked-up class on romantic literature for the two year period.
What the college offers? Entry, but she has to attend a non-college level English/math course deal (refresher)...something in the range of $300 for each. At the end of the courses...she has to retake the test, and pass...or repeat the no-value course again.
I paused the guy and asked, so these are mostly worthless? Yeah, and just wasting more time.
How right you are. And not just a great teacher, but also a curriculum that builds a logical foundation step-by-step.
Here's an answer that I have found to what is missing from the American school system:
Khan Academy MathBTW, starting at the beginning of Khan's program and progressing back up the ladder will get the sludge in the brain moving once again and perhaps even ameliorate the mental ravages of aging.
After my father started getting some serious brain fogginess from old age, I used math to help clear up his thinking (I was his caregiver). It was like physical exercise in that he complained every day and every step of the way...but it worked. After a while, he even started to enjoy it. And his thinking and memory got noticeably sharper.
Lowering the bar? no way.....
If youre a parent and cannot gauge the level of acumen of the teachers teaching your kids , get involved deeper.
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