71–80 of 103 posts
What percentage of the current US workforce actually draws on advanced (even intermediate) mathematical skills on a day-to-day basis? I'd wager a guess that most developers on HN don't even touch the stuff.
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I totally agree and am depressed that places like inner cities have such a hard time getting more charter schools and competition that would give these kids and their families a shot at a decent education. Is it politics? Teachers unions? Getting good admin people? What's holding back these places from getting ahead? As a comparison, my sister lives on the outskirts of a large metro area and their school has been tea…
I'm curious what you mean by "teaching STEM", do you mean a particular emphasis on STEM? Because most schools at least cover the science and math part, with varying degrees on the technology and engineering (often limited by teacher availability and financial resources). If they don't cover those things then they aren't really covering any state's high school curriculum.
They also are learning about programming and other really technical stuff I was surprised to hear about. The other thing which was nice to hear is how they foster kids to learn and enjoy math - something I missed out on until I was in college and had a professor who really gave me a sense of how wonderful mathematics can be, not just a means to an end.
There are some major issues with this article, the more I look at it. The general tone is quite prejudiced--using Turkey, Chile, and Mexico as obviously terrible comparisons we should be ashamed of. The article also fails to mention that the two countries the US is ranked between are Sweden and Spain. There's also no indication of the variation between #1 and #34 on the country rankings. Are the kids in Mexico 50% du…
I think this information would be conclusions that could be reasonably drawn from a good research article, and therefore I disagree that "this article shows a lot of good ways not to do it."
And while I agree the general tone is quite prejudiced (using the South as representative of the US is akin to using Eastern Europe as representative of the EU) those countries are not terrible comparisons. Most Americans would admit those countries are not good to be similar to in way of education achievements, and yet the author does make a good argument that America is similar to them, and in doing so impeaches Americans view of the success of their educational achievements.
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I totally agree and am depressed that places like inner cities have such a hard time getting more charter schools and competition that would give these kids and their families a shot at a decent education. Is it politics? Teachers unions? Getting good admin people? What's holding back these places from getting ahead? As a comparison, my sister lives on the outskirts of a large metro area and their school has been tea…
>What's holding back these places from getting ahead? There is no motivation for someone to teach in inner cities beyond a sense of civic duty. I live in a city with terrible (unaccredited) schools. Students in those schools are often openly hostile to teachers and faculty. Administration is often on the verge of a breakdown due to the pressure to "turn things around." Why would anyone want to teach there? I know I d…
>>> If you think it's a travesty that talented and bright teachers want to avoid inner cities then you should do it yourself.
I can't argue with you there.
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I'm not saying that greater math ability doesn't correlate to greater wealth. That could very well be true (and it probably is). What I meant was that the public school system is funded by tax dollars. Wealthier neighborhoods contribute more tax money and have better public schools. I obviously don't have any direct evidence, but I would sat there's almost no correlation to wealthy neighborhoods and their residents b…
Direct evidence against your belief: http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/2...
While I am fully aware that the American public education system is far from excellent, I am always skeptical of reports that laud China, Korea, and Japan as paragons of math and science instruction. What exactly is being measured here? Arithmetic and the ability to solve word problems of a few known formats is not mathematics. I do not want my future children to be calculators, I want them to be thinkers. There is c…
I think these questions are quite fair at testing the mathematical abilities of students. These questions don't simply test mechanical calculations, but also require applications of mathematical knowledge and insight towards problem solving.
If you disagree, then can you provide examples for better questions to test students at their mathematical skill level?
I read all the comments kindly posted here before mine, and then I read the fine submitted article. Here I will link to the study "Not Just the Problems of Other People's Children: U.S. Student Performance in Global Perspective"[1] that underlies the news report submitted here. The full study report will of course give you details that a brief news report has no space to provide. It's good to read a news report from…
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I remember when I 'got' algebra. I was in 10th grade in Chem class. We were using mols = (mols/Volume)*Volume. For weeks, I had no idea what was going on. I just plain did not understand algebra whatsoever. But finally, at the end of a lab class where we actually mixed things and then found the concentrations and volumes, I finally figured out that these algebraic equations actually tied back into the real world. Thi…
I was also a very poor math student in HS that went on to get a physics degree. I can say that it was the method of instruction as well as my own lack of motivation. Classes were boring and easy to pass even if you did not know the material. In my state you needed a 2.0 GPA to get into a state school. This is generally doable for even the worst students. The lack of real consequences for not studying and doing homewo…
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It's a british thing.
It's not a British thing, it's a standard English thing. I understand it's a difficult language but sometimes we contract words rather than lopping parts off. It's interesting that you guys chose to keep Physics, did Physic sound too weird? :D
This side of the pond we use British to mean "not American, originating in United Kingdon". I say this as a Canadian. For parts of our English that differ from American, like colour, we say "it's British". Our dictionaries say the same thing too:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hak6bs1hpnpu3rb/Screenshot%202014-...
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Direct evidence against your belief: http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/2...
What an annoying response. You link me an 18 page PDF and call it direct evidence? Did you even read what I said? I'm not arguing that greater math ability doesn't correlate to greater wealth! This issue boils down to wealthier neighborhoods getting more money to invest in better math education for their students. That's it! Are you claiming that all rich people are good at math? Or that only people good at math are…
