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You'd be absolutely astounded at the number of vector calculus students at highly regarded universities who: * identify a rote procedure to apply when a proble

by nmrm2 11y ago

You'd be absolutely astounded at the number of vector calculus students at highly regarded universities who: * identify a rote procedure to apply when a problem of a particular form is seen * execute the rote procedure * come up with "<equation here> / 0" * ... and then turn the thing in anyways.

jerf 11y ago
To me, this is the real problem. I see little reason to believe that Common Core fixes it. But then, I have a bit of an unusual perspective on the problem. My position isn't that the old curriculum is good and this new one is bad. They're all pretty darned bad. Common Core has some neat bits in it, but it's still polishing a turd; Lockhart's Lament still applies to it in full force.
- nmrm2 11y ago
  Common Core is an improvement. But things won't get much better until teaching pays a competitive salary.
  - tempestn 11y ago
    That, or very slowly as iterative improvements to education eventually produce better-educated teachers.
    - nmrm2 11y ago
      I am one of little faith. At the high school level, there's really only so much that can be done without the instructor understanding the end-game. It's just fundamentally difficult for an algebra teacher to effectively teach algebra is they haven't really groked any group or ring theory or linear algegra. And it's really hard for a Calc I instructor to teach effectively without having really mastered some elementary analysis. Especially the second one. I'm not sure what a calc I teacher is supposed to say if a student has any foundational questions, which any bright student probably will.
DanBC 11y ago
> You'd be absolutely astounded No, I wouldn't! Take much easier examples: Percentages. Ask someone what 10% of 230 is, and most people can give you the right answer. They might not understand what's going on, but they can type the right buttons on a calculator. Now ask them to find what 37 is as a percentage of 390 and an alarming number of people will struggle. Or ask them "This TV now costs $240. It's had a %10 discount applied. How much did it cost before the discount?" It's alarming because so much information is presented as percentages.

by nmrm2 11y ago

jerf 11y ago

To me, this is the real problem. I see little reason to believe that Common Core fixes it. But then, I have a bit of an unusual perspective on the problem. My position isn't that the old curriculum is good and this new one is bad. They're all pretty darned bad. Common Core has some neat bits in it, but it's still polishing a turd; Lockhart's Lament still applies to it in full force.

nmrm2 11y ago
Common Core is an improvement. But things won't get much better until teaching pays a competitive salary.
- tempestn 11y ago
  That, or very slowly as iterative improvements to education eventually produce better-educated teachers.
  - nmrm2 11y ago
    I am one of little faith. At the high school level, there's really only so much that can be done without the instructor understanding the end-game. It's just fundamentally difficult for an algebra teacher to effectively teach algebra is they haven't really groked any group or ring theory or linear algegra. And it's really hard for a Calc I instructor to teach effectively without having really mastered some elementary analysis. Especially the second one. I'm not sure what a calc I teacher is supposed to say if a student has any foundational questions, which any bright student probably will.

DanBC 11y ago

> You'd be absolutely astounded No, I wouldn't! Take much easier examples: Percentages. Ask someone what 10% of 230 is, and most people can give you the right answer. They might not understand what's going on, but they can type the right buttons on a calculator. Now ask them to find what 37 is as a percentage of 390 and an alarming number of people will struggle. Or ask them "This TV now costs $240. It's had a %10 discount applied. How much did it cost before the discount?" It's alarming because so much information is presented as percentages.