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Say Goodbye To X+Y: Should Community Colleges Abolish Algebra?
NPR ^ | July 19, 2017 | Kayla Lattimore and Julie Depenbrock

Posted on 07/21/2017 5:12:11 AM PDT by C19fan

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To: Mycroft Holmes
Thank you. This is the short version. A Mathematician's Lament is longer. I've read both. I was looking for a math professor's opinion of it.

If you have read it, what do you think of his premise?

241 posted on 07/21/2017 2:15:46 PM PDT by kosciusko51
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

I had Algebra 1,2,3,4 ...then calculus in college...this was 1969 to early 70s....REAL math


242 posted on 07/21/2017 3:00:34 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Say hello to President Trump)
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

PS...did well in algebra and calculus. ..Geometry was my downfall...


243 posted on 07/21/2017 3:02:37 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Say hello to President Trump)
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To: C19fan

The concept of x + y = anything is offensive to the liberal gender warriors.


244 posted on 07/21/2017 3:14:46 PM PDT by csivils
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To: minnesota_bound
Actually these 1, 2, 3, ..... are just symbols.
When they were broken away from using them to keep track of things. (like inventory - 1 sheep, 2 sheep...1 bushel 2 bushels, etc)
The real math begins !

Number Theory - Far deeper and more complex then you can imagine! Shockingly so !
Symbols with patterns within patterns within patterns!

Derbyshire wrote a good book on the Riemann hypothesis and the chase for that proof!

245 posted on 07/21/2017 3:28:59 PM PDT by Reily
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To: C19fan
since when is algebra required in black/transgendered/women's/lesbian/unicorn milking/whatever studies anyway?
246 posted on 07/21/2017 4:11:15 PM PDT by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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To: Reily
I found the algebraic pattern for 2+2=4

Blnk
247 posted on 07/21/2017 4:20:57 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: kosciusko51
As a practicing research scientist and engineer I have always regarded math as language, not art. I don't really disagree with his premise but the only useful thing I learned in school was typing. Everything else was a rehash of what I had learned on my own. in other words I was bored to tears in school.

I never had a math teacher who understood math. It wasn't till after I left school and started doing actual work that math made sense. Then I devoured whatever I needed to know to solve the current problem. I have tried to teach individuals general techniques for problem solving and had some success.

248 posted on 07/21/2017 4:21:23 PM PDT by Mycroft Holmes (The fool is always greater than the proof.)
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To: minnesota_bound

Keep at it!
There’s more!


249 posted on 07/21/2017 4:33:58 PM PDT by Reily
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To: lurked_for_a_decade
True! And the left brain thinkers should be required to take classes in the arts and humanities as well.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

They are. They sit in the same classes as those majoring in history, psychology, English ( etc,). But....The liberal arts majors take baby science courses. I'm not impressed.

250 posted on 07/21/2017 4:47:04 PM PDT by wintertime (Stop treating government teachers like they are reincarnated Mother Teresas!)
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To: JTHomes

No. No triggers.

Will give you benefit of doubt that spell check devil put in physiological.

Read study. Please do not recommend such stuff to bolster your position.

Study small.150 to 250 kids in 3 studies. Confusing about total. Done in Singapore. Result inconclusive.

People with normal IQ and good working memory tend to do good at math in the learning and quick testing situations.

People with normal IQs and not so good working memory have to rely more on memorization which takes longer. However, those people will retain and be able to recall better than those with great working memory. They put it in long term memory bank. That study was not spread over a log enough time to compare the 2 kinds of learners.

Sounds like you do not have education or pscyhology background which is o.k., but be careful making snarky remarks about others. It is hurtful to some here who may not be so agile at math in the classrom/ testing situation.

Lots of learning styles and bouquets of attributes in all God’s children.

And kids with low IQS can be good at algebra and even higher math.


251 posted on 07/21/2017 5:50:25 PM PDT by amihow
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To: Leaning Right

LOL!

That’s one of the cool things about FR. Somebody comes up with a great idea and puts it out there, then we all can build on it.

Best FReegards!


252 posted on 07/21/2017 6:33:59 PM PDT by generally ( Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: Mr. K
Image result for pi get real
253 posted on 07/21/2017 11:12:31 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Trump the anti politician. About time!)
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To: Mycroft Holmes
As a math major (that worked as an engineer) I remember assigning an electrical engineer and a guy with a MS in Physics an engineering task. They came to me with a formula, unfortunately for them the variable they needed to find was in the middle of the equation.

Lucky for them that's basically all I did as a math major was manipulate equations, took the whole white board but I reworked their equation. The was when I realized the value of math.

But being kicked upstairs my interface with high order equations became nonexistent. When I open my Ordinary Differential Equations text, it is literally and figuratively all Greek to me.

254 posted on 07/21/2017 11:27:57 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Trump the anti politician. About time!)
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To: NorthMountain
There is also a learning disorder known as dyscalculia. Thumbnail definition, dyslexia but with numbers, mathematics, patterns. Probably not someone to crack the code but would most likely be the one to envision the code.
255 posted on 07/22/2017 4:09:01 AM PDT by j.argese (/s tags: If you have a mind unnecessary. If you're a cretin it really doesn't matter, does it?)
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To: proxy_user

I loved Linear Algebra. Now Dify Q was my wall. I got thru it with a B but I never really understood how to use it outside of the class room.


256 posted on 07/22/2017 4:30:51 AM PDT by jpsb (Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied. Otto von Bismark)
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To: central_va
The teacher tried to explain but the guy was too rigid. He was a math major and he said he took the programming class as an elective so he dropped it.

Thus giving central_va a comparative advantage in the employment arena?

257 posted on 07/22/2017 4:58:41 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Political Junkie Too
Today's cash registers already do this for them. In fact, they don't even have to read anymore, just push the button with the picture of the food on it.

And when the payment is entered, today's better cash registers show a picture of the change due.

258 posted on 07/22/2017 5:14:58 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: mazda77

The sorry thing about this is that most “math teachers” teach the arithmetic. Students are all worried about the arithmetic when the secret is to just study and remember the rules.


This was my biggest problem with Algebra.


259 posted on 07/26/2017 12:26:49 PM PDT by rdl6989
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