Is algebra necessary for ALL?
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Anonymous
| Perhaps you are the one with the sheltered life. Get out more, meet some people who didn't take calculus, ask them whether or not they have a "real" job. |
Anonymous
I'm a lawyer so I write for a living but I tested out of freshman English with AP and Calculus too. Attended an Ivy undergrad (and law school) and so everyone I know took Calculus in high school. Granted this was awhile ago but I doubt many or any students who apply to the Ivies not take Calculus in high school and they certainly all had algebra. Yeah, even the art history majors. |
Anonymous
Oh and I type on my phone and don't edit. Use to work as an editor at a large publishing company before law school - drove the copy editors crazy. So sue me.... |
Anonymous
| Ah, the star-bellied sneeches |
Anonymous
Oh, so now the bar's Calculus? A few posts ago you said it was Algebra I. But regardless, that's just it - I've known plenty of people who didn't take higher math, and the vast majority of them are trapped in dead-end grunt work jobs on the low end of HHI as opposed to those who took higher math who virtually all ended up far more successful in life, landing high-paying jobs and endless opportunities. |
Anonymous
strictly anecdotal. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Perhaps you are the one with the sheltered life. Get out more, meet some people who didn't take calculus, ask them whether or not they have a "real" job.[/quote]
Oh, so now the bar's Calculus? A few posts ago you said it was Algebra I. But regardless, that's just it - I've known plenty of people who didn't take higher math, and the vast majority of them are trapped in dead-end grunt work jobs on the low end of HHI as opposed to those who took higher math who virtually all ended up far more successful in life, landing high-paying jobs and endless opportunities.[/quote] strictly anecdotal.[/quote] Not that poster, but I'll bite. It may be "strictly anecdotal" but regardless countless studies show that students who take the mathematics courses to graduate from a good school with a bachelors degree (and at AU most fields required Statistics for example) make thousands -- sometimes millions -- more during their lifetimes than high school graduates. Do they "use" Algebra 1 or Algebra 2? Antitrust lawyers, to use an earlier example, use the quadratic equation to calculate the market share change of a merger between two companies. Anyone who ever renovated a house had to use both algebra and geometry to get the job done. Are they happier? According to this week's Time magazine cover --yes, that's primitive print -- the US is losing ground even on happiness to other countries. Is higher mathematics the key to greater happiness? Maybe not, but the higher happiness scoring countries also tend to top the US in education, too. Just a thought. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Perhaps you are the one with the sheltered life. Get out more, meet some people who didn't take calculus, ask them whether or not they have a "real" job.[/quote]
Oh, so now the bar's Calculus? A few posts ago you said it was Algebra I. But regardless, that's just it - I've known plenty of people who didn't take higher math, and the vast majority of them are trapped in dead-end grunt work jobs on the low end of HHI as opposed to those who took higher math who virtually all ended up far more successful in life, landing high-paying jobs and endless opportunities.[/quote] strictly anecdotal.[/quote] Not that poster, but I'll bite. It may be "strictly anecdotal" but regardless countless studies show that students who take the mathematics courses to graduate from a good school with a bachelors degree (and at AU most fields required Statistics for example) make thousands -- sometimes millions -- more during their lifetimes than high school graduates. Do they "use" Algebra 1 or Algebra 2? Antitrust lawyers, to use an earlier example, use the quadratic equation to calculate the market share change of a merger between two companies. Anyone who ever renovated a house had to use both algebra and geometry to get the job done. Are they happier? According to this week's Time magazine cover --yes, that's primitive print -- the US is losing ground even on happiness to other countries. Is higher mathematics the key to greater happiness? Maybe not, but the higher happiness scoring countries also tend to top the US in education, too. Just a thought.[/quote] And another thought -- forgive me, I'm adding to my previous thought: IMHO, America seems to be getting stupider, poorer and unhappier. Comparatively, anyway. Wouldn't more education raise the wealth of better educated US citizens? Why should the US allow a brain drain and just accept stupefaction? How would that make Americans happier or more prosperous? Wouldn't it just worsen the problem of growing poverty in this country? Instead, theoretically, a rising tide would lift all boats, right? |
Anonymous
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Maybe this video is apropos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEU_5lVjRFQ&list=PLC065B8549CDD84DE |
Anonymous
Wow. You must really be hard at being so oblivious and ignorant to reality. I'm impressed. |
Anonymous
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The bar is calculus. First question asked of DC when applying to GMU, "have you taken calculus?".
The employment market is changing. The future is in engineering, computers, robotics, technology and all things STEM. In order to succeed in those fields you have to need to know how to code computers. Universities want those kids who have already got a lot of math under their belt because they are just going to keep piling it on. That's what you have to do if you want to work in these fields. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_theory |
Anonymous
so when you have no data to back up your opinions, you claim you are stating the obvious, and you attack those that disagree. does this strategy work for you in general? |
Anonymous
I would argue statistics and basic financial calculations are truly life skills. Yes algebra is helpful for figuring out things like how much per can is soda if 5 12-packs are $10 at Giant. However I am constantly reading articles in NYT, Wash Post, Atlantic that have poorly stated or explained statistics. If the majority of adults in our society understood mean vs. median and had some basic financial literacy, we'd all be in a much better place. |
Anonymous
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Let's just put it this way: If DCPS were to stop it's math curriculum at Algebra, they'd basically be driving the final nail in their coffin. Even the handful of successful schools in DC would rapidly fail because parents would realize all the more what an irrelevant dead end DCPS schools are to them and how much they will fail to meet their needs. More and more parents would pull their kids out of DCPS schools and instead send them to charters, privates or move out and go to suburban schools.
Educated parents know better. Educated parents know that higher math is needed in the professional world, that it's needed for graduate school admissions exams, and so on. DCPS schools would become increasingly segregated, ultimately becoming 99% low-SES and AA, and all who attend DCPS schools would be condemned to a lousy and limited future that will come with low income, low quality of life, and plenty of heartbreak. |
Anonymous
What kind of data do you want? People have offered several different articles citing job statistics, college requirements, and career forecasting. I disagree that everything presented here about the importance of mathematics has been anecdotal. Do you have any data that supports the earning power and career futures for students who took no mathematics beyond algebra 1? |