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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.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:32PM (10 children)
If algebra is part of the "minimal skill set" - then the "minimal skill set" needs some serious re-thinking.
A huge part of the meat-staffed economy can be fulfilled by people who don't understand and will never get algebra. Keeping them out of the job pool isn't going to stop them from breeding, probably the opposite - think long term, please.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Saturday July 22 2017, @07:19PM (4 children)
If those skills aren't required to do the job, then why is a diploma a prerequisite to getting the job?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:22PM
A diploma encompasses a broad set of skills, some of which are required for a particular job, many of which are not.
You could put this on the employers and say they should simply test for the skills they need, but the education system isn't helping the situation much at all by a) lumping all the skills together for a single binary evaluation, and b) doing a poor job of evaluating actual mastery of the skills they say they evaluate.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:53PM
Because the majority of employers are ridiculous idiots.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday July 22 2017, @11:50PM (1 child)
A HS diploma represents a demonstration that the person can A) show up most of the time and B) complete most of the rudimentary tasks asked of that person. An Associates Degree takes A and B to a slightly higher level and adds C) the person has some measure of self-motivation to go beyond the minimum required by society, i.e., a HS Diploma/GED. A college degree beefs up A, B, & C. A graduate degree suggests the person possesses a high level of A, B, & C, plus a threshold level of skill and passion which if not surpassed, would have kept that person from taking on the burdens of grad school. There will always be individual exceptions, but the exceptions don't really matter if this holds up for most grads.
Now, what you teach at the lower levels may or may not be pertinent to the final employment requirements, but it doesn't matter because the real lesson being taught, especially in HS, is to show up and work at something you don't like. The rest is just window dressing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @12:57AM
> A graduate degree ...
I thought that a PhD meant that you were qualified to work on research projects without detailed supervision, set your own goals and meet them?
> because the real lesson being taught, especially in HS, is to show up and work at something you don't like.
But I liked high school math. Had some good teachers and the puzzles were, for the most part, entertaining. Geometry was a favorite and I applied this to mechanical drawing, where the 2D-to-3D (and reverse) exercises were also fun.
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Saturday July 22 2017, @07:20PM (2 children)
Who said anything about keeping them out of the job market? I said "go into the trades". What is the point of removing everything difficult from a high school diploma? When everyone can get one, regardless of ability, it becomes worthless.
Of course, in the US that has already happened, and y'all are now doing the same thing to college.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 4, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:25PM (1 child)
Whoever named the Bachelor of Science degree was really prescient with the initials B.S. So many colleges and universities consider their students to be paying clients, and the customers get at least a C if they show up and don't cause too much trouble, regardless of whether they demonstrate any actual understanding of the subjects being taught.
Source: taught a senior level engineering at a private university for two years, tried to fail my students who simply didn't demonstrate ANY understanding of the material, was given a directive from the Dean's office more or less stating the above.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @10:00PM
This is why degrees can't be taken seriously. It's not just the K-12 system that is broken; so many people view education as job training and want a degree without even understanding any of the subjects, and then waste all of their time partying. If our colleges and univerities were actually decent, we'd be kicking such people out so they don't poison the academic environment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @02:11AM
Cooking, driving, buying real estate, taking out a loan, paying your electric bill are all things for which you need some concept of algebra for in order to properly do.
It's obviously possible to get away without knowing it, I regularly see people at work learning basic arithmetic that are in their 40s and older, but it's certainly not something that we should reasonably expect from high school graduates.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:14AM
Pass algebra or get a vasectomy?