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This is at least partly a matter of retention. There was a study on giving algebra tests to adults, and one of the best predictors of performance was how much

by dubya 15y ago

This is at least partly a matter of retention. There was a study on giving algebra tests to adults, and one of the best predictors of performance was how much math the person had taken. So someone who had taken math through calculus did pretty well on the algebra test, regardless of age, while someone who had only taken through algebra had basically exponential decay from when they had taken it. (I can't think of where I saw this -- does anyone else know?) So I would assume that Mr. Roach's degrees are in non-technical subjects, and that he likely didn't take anything higher than pre-calc.

tokenadult 15y ago
I would assume that Mr. Roach's degrees are in non-technical subjects Mr. Roach's degrees are now known to be in education. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3326293 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3326293 "Roach, the father of five children and grandfather of two, was a teacher, counselor and coach in Orange County for 14 years. He was first elected to the board in 1998 and has been reelected three times. A resident of Orange County for three decades, he has a bachelor of science degree in education and two masters degrees: in education and educational psychology. He has trained over 18,000 educators in classroom management and course delivery skills in six eastern states over the last 25 years." I will note for the record that a proper, accredited degree program in educational psychology ought to have a statistics for psychology class included that would provide a mathematics refresher to postgraduate students who don't test out of that course. If not, the degree program was appallingly bad.
- hessenwolf 15y ago
  Yes - but it's reaallllyyy hard to teach a bunch of non-mathematicians statistics in a couple of terms. The problem is that it is an assorted mish-mash of hard and easy maths, the basis of which is too difficult for them to understand, and the brain-bending proper interpretation of a p-value.
MichaelJW 15y ago
I believe the study you're thinking of is "Lifetime maintenance of high-school mathematics content" (Journal of Experimental Psychology). I read about it in Why Don't Children Like School, perhaps you did too?

by dubya 15y ago

tokenadult 15y ago

I would assume that Mr. Roach's degrees are in non-technical subjects Mr. Roach's degrees are now known to be in education. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3326293 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3326293 "Roach, the father of five children and grandfather of two, was a teacher, counselor and coach in Orange County for 14 years. He was first elected to the board in 1998 and has been reelected three times. A resident of Orange County for three decades, he has a bachelor of science degree in education and two masters degrees: in education and educational psychology. He has trained over 18,000 educators in classroom management and course delivery skills in six eastern states over the last 25 years." I will note for the record that a proper, accredited degree program in educational psychology ought to have a statistics for psychology class included that would provide a mathematics refresher to postgraduate students who don't test out of that course. If not, the degree program was appallingly bad.

hessenwolf 15y ago
Yes - but it's reaallllyyy hard to teach a bunch of non-mathematicians statistics in a couple of terms. The problem is that it is an assorted mish-mash of hard and easy maths, the basis of which is too difficult for them to understand, and the brain-bending proper interpretation of a p-value.

MichaelJW 15y ago

I believe the study you're thinking of is "Lifetime maintenance of high-school mathematics content" (Journal of Experimental Psychology). I read about it in Why Don't Children Like School, perhaps you did too?