4 ms·

How do you reconcile that position with the original article?

SoftwareMaven 15y ago
The article is a single anecdote from the wrong side of the college continuum. After helping my daughter all year with geometry, it is not surprising to me that he couldn't do the math. Those kinds of tests ask questions like "Can you prove these triangles are congruent" and you have to remember all the SAS, SSA, ASA, etc theorems and postulates to have a chance. You will forget those after 20 years, no matter how much you excelled in high school, if you aren't using them (or derivative concepts in higher math) regularly.
- bostonvaulter2 15y ago
  Proving theorem's is often taught very poorly. If you haven't already I highly recommend you read Lockhart's Lament: http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
  - rapind 15y ago
    I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far it's been pretty eye-opening. It reminds me of how I once took a photoshop course in order to improve my design skills... pretty easy to guess how well that worked.
- sidek 15y ago
  Perhaps I'm the exception, but in Grade 10 I didn't take math (long story) and had never seen most of the math concepts but still was the go-to math helper. High school math is fairly trivial- easy enough to figure out with just some intuition and general thinking skills.
  - sbov 15y ago
    There's a huge leap from being able to figure it out with a book and all the equations inside of it as opposed to taking a test with only questions, no reference material, and presumably a time limit.
    - sidek 15y ago
      No, I never used a book or any equations. People would give me questions with no context, and I would take a second to think through it and then help them. Things like solving systems of equations are easy - you just need to truly understand algebra. Similarly, high school geometry doesn't get far past the axioms themselves. As a disclaimer to all of this, I was the type that had fun proving stuff in seventh grade and had already read through Spivak's Calculus by Grade 10.
      - dhume 15y ago
        As a disclaimer to all of this, I was the type that had fun proving stuff in seventh grade and had already read through Spivak's Calculus by Grade 10. This makes your earlier claim of never having seen most of the concepts rather dubious.
absconditus 15y ago
I do not have a high opinion of school board members and the article seems like superficial fluff.
- jbooth 15y ago
  If you don't have a high opinion of them, you should try it, run and fix all of the things they're fucking up.
makmanalp 15y ago
Absconditus is talking about higher education, I think.

The article is a single anecdote from the wrong side of the college continuum. After helping my daughter all year with geometry, it is not surprising to me that he couldn't do the math. Those kinds of tests ask questions like "Can you prove these triangles are congruent" and you have to remember all the SAS, SSA, ASA, etc theorems and postulates to have a chance. You will forget those after 20 years, no matter how much you excelled in high school, if you aren't using them (or derivative concepts in higher math) regularly.

bostonvaulter2 15y ago
Proving theorem's is often taught very poorly. If you haven't already I highly recommend you read Lockhart's Lament: http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
- rapind 15y ago
  I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far it's been pretty eye-opening. It reminds me of how I once took a photoshop course in order to improve my design skills... pretty easy to guess how well that worked.
sidek 15y ago
Perhaps I'm the exception, but in Grade 10 I didn't take math (long story) and had never seen most of the math concepts but still was the go-to math helper. High school math is fairly trivial- easy enough to figure out with just some intuition and general thinking skills.
- sbov 15y ago
  There's a huge leap from being able to figure it out with a book and all the equations inside of it as opposed to taking a test with only questions, no reference material, and presumably a time limit.
  - sidek 15y ago
    No, I never used a book or any equations. People would give me questions with no context, and I would take a second to think through it and then help them. Things like solving systems of equations are easy - you just need to truly understand algebra. Similarly, high school geometry doesn't get far past the axioms themselves. As a disclaimer to all of this, I was the type that had fun proving stuff in seventh grade and had already read through Spivak's Calculus by Grade 10.
    - dhume 15y ago
      As a disclaimer to all of this, I was the type that had fun proving stuff in seventh grade and had already read through Spivak's Calculus by Grade 10. This makes your earlier claim of never having seen most of the concepts rather dubious.

absconditus 15y ago

I do not have a high opinion of school board members and the article seems like superficial fluff.

jbooth 15y ago
If you don't have a high opinion of them, you should try it, run and fix all of the things they're fucking up.

makmanalp 15y ago

Absconditus is talking about higher education, I think.