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> Do you reject the idea that some people are better at things than others? No. Of course not. > 99% of people simply can’t learn the same level of mathematic
by lapcat 1y ago
> Do you reject the idea that some people are better at things than others?
No. Of course not.
> 99% of people simply can’t learn the same level of mathematics that a pure mathematician does
Why would this be a requirement for all citizens? Perhaps you misunderstood "demonstrate the same level of mastery". I meant that there would be a specified minimum requirement, though we definitely shouldn't set the bar too low. What I would reject is social promotion, where students get to move along to the next level as long as they have a D grade or higher. This does not demonstrate sufficient understanding of the material taught.
Grades are for ranking. I'm suggesting that we ditch grades and simply demand that everyone learn what we expect them to learn. If students learn more than what's expected, good for them, that's not a problem.
> what happens in your system to people who would have been pure mathematicians
I'm not sure what you mean. How am I preventing people from becoming pure mathematicians?
- School-Cotton 1y agoHow do you decide who to filter into the more difficult and faster-paced classes that will prepare someone to be a pure mathematician, other than grades?
- lapcat 1y agoI'm not sure exactly what you mean by "filter into" or at what level or stage of classes you're referring to. To a large extent, it's self-filtering: who is going to voluntarily take advanced math classes except those who are intered in advanced math? There are of course larger societal questions of how much schooling is funded by the government and how much needs to be self-funded. I don't know if this is what you're talking about, but I had to take the Graduate Records Exam in order to get into grad school. But the GRE is not taught or administered by the university, so in that sense it's not part of the educational system. You don't actually have to be in the math department to take an advanced math class, though, and other students may take the classes as part of a PhD minor or just for some other interest.
- School-Cotton 1y agoYou need to filter them way before that. Certainly by 16, probably even earlier like 12 or 13, someone destined for a career in STEM will be bored and wasting time by any material that 90% of people are capable of learning.
- lapcat 1y agoI still don't know what you mean by "filter". I asked, and you haven't elaborated. The only thing I can think of is that you (mistakenly) assume that I'm suggesting all students must move at the same pace? But that would be a very weird interpretation of me, since I've already expressed strong criticism of that idea: "Our current educational system is designed like an assembly line, based on age and social promotion. Everyone of the same age is expected to follow the same track."
- School-Cotton 1y agoSort students into different classes based on their ability and interest.
- lapcat 1y agoI have no objection to that, and I don't know why you think I would. You seem to be assuming that "all students must meet these standards" means that all students must meet these standards at the same age and time, but I never said or implied that.
- School-Cotton 1y agoRight, but how do you filter students, if not by grades? With no grades, how do you know which ones are capable of a more rigorous program? (Similarly, later, how do you know which ones should get into the best universities? And so on)
- 1y ago