Re: U.S. teens have weak practical math skills
- From: BMJ <parametric_equation@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:59:28 GMT
nonesuch wrote:
<snip>
Oh boy, the world's gonna fall apart! This is, once again, pandering to
the eternal shortage of scientists and engineers.
First of all, after having been in the real world for nearly a decade
before attending medical school, I not only have had no use for partial
differential equations or complex variables, a.k.a. upper level
undergrad math, but I haven't even used much of my high school geometry
either.
* But the study refers to the state of basic mathematics. I do think that the general population (high school graduates )needs to know arithmetic, algebra and geometry. They also need to know what calculus and differential equations are. Not all knowledge acquired to this level has to be practical.
I agree, but try teaching that to people who sit and complain "Do we *have* to know this?" or "Why do we have to learn this?"
In one course I taught, I faced just that. I once gave a quiz and penalized students for math errors only to face rebuke from them for grading them on something that they had already been tested on in another course. The fact that my course was one where what they had previously learned would be applied escaped them.
Guess who their department head sided with?
And people wonder why students are deficient in math skills....
<snip>
.
- Prev by Date: Re: Germany alarmed at lack of engineers
- Next by Date: Re: U.S. teens have weak practical math skills
- Previous by thread: Re: U.S. teens have weak practical math skills
- Next by thread: Re: U.S. teens have weak practical math skills
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
