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Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree — particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.
It is also the single most failed course in community colleges across the country. So if you're not a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, math), why even study algebra?
That's the argument Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of the California community college system, made today in an interview with NPR's Robert Siegel.
At American community colleges, 60 percent of those enrolled are required to take at least one math course. Most — nearly 80 percent — never complete that requirement.
Oakley is among a growing number of educators who view intermediate algebra as an obstacle to students obtaining their credentials — particularly in fields that require no higher level math skills.
Their thinking has led to initiatives like Community College Pathways, which strays away from abstract algebra to engage students in real-world math applications.
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:32PM (1 child)
You've, (perhaps unwittingly, perhaps cleverly) hit upon the truth of higher education. Once past junior high, education is mostly a sieve. A wheat from chaff sorting exercise.
Any actual learning beyond highschool is merely coincidental to the training in how to think. Those who can't think the required way must be set upon different journeys - perhaps aboard the b-ark.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bzipitidoo on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:35PM
Perhaps Oakley feels it was a mistake to come down from the trees in the first place.