do you think they should require you to do math each year in high school?

Do you think they should require you to do math each year in high school?

A lot of high school students that get a 3.0 or higher gpa have to do remedial classes for math when they apply for a college. The high school should have taught them that. Its almost like you havent got your full diploma by the time you graduate. A lot of student have forgotton the math when they graduate. I think if it was required to do math each year a lot less students would have to do remedial classes in college. Doing remedial classes puts you back a year and costs a lot of money. In some states 44% of the graduating students that go to college do remedial classes.

I think you can do all your match in 2 years in high school then dont have math to do for 2 years. By that time they have forgotton the math. Just one year of not doing math you forget a lot.

yes and they should require after school tutoring for those falling behind. The education system in the U.S. is really an embarassment. I had to take 3 math classes in community college before I was allowed to take college algebra.

Don't they already do that? I remember having a math class every year in high school. In fact, I actually ended up taking 5 high school math courses as I was in the 8th grade advanced algebra class which was counted as a high school credit. Luckily for me though, math is pretty easy. Never got less than an A in all my math courses from high school through college.

Yes. As much as I hate math, I tend to forget it over the summer. You need it every year you're in school if you ask me.

Absolutely not. We should be trying to find out who is good in math and cultivating THEIR skills in it, not trying some old and worthless method of making everyone proficient at it.

I was awful at math. Every single year. My parents got me tutors and extra help all the time and to this day I can't do more than college algebra. My time would have been better spent in english, history and computers but instead my state thought it best to exacerbate my problems with a subject. All you need to know is how to do basic arithmetic. You don't need anything beyond that in life.

Absolutely not. We should be trying to find out who is good in math and cultivating THEIR skills in it, not trying some old and worthless method of making everyone proficient at it.

I was awful at math. Every single year. My parents got me tutors and extra help all the time and to this day I can't do more than college algebra. My time would have been better spent in english, history and computers but instead my state thought it best to exacerbate my problems with a subject. All you need to know is how to do basic arithmetic. You don't need anything beyond that in life.

airshocker

yes and they should require after school tutoring for those falling behind. The education system in the U.S. is really an embarassment. I had to take 3 math classes in community college before I was allowed to take college algebra.

Meat_Wad_Fan

Yes. Knowledge is power, as they say. You may not need it, but, frankly, being ignorant won't do you any good either. It's called 'being educated.'

As somebody who takes great pride in my appetite for learning, I believe that schools are too simple as they are now. I am speaking as an American in the US, of course. I won't speak in reference to our friends across the Atlantic as I have no first-hand experience to reference :p

That's a really good point you just shouted out. If you cannot break a child to do force labor then shove math book in their face.lorddaggeroff

Uh, what? :?

All I'm saying is that there are kids who really like math and are exceptionally good at it. Why force the ones who aren't to do it?

Our education system treats everyone as if they're the same when we aren't. We all have different interests. We all have different skills. We should be trying to improve the skills of our children, not putting them in a one-size-fits-all program.

Hell no

School should prepare you for the world, not for crap you aren't going to use (honestly you could use this arguement for most required courses). Math to me became useless past grade 8. I honestly haven't learned anything new except the essential stuff like how to write cheques, calculate how much pay based on hours worked etc. Here in Canada (or at least British Columbia) Math is only forced on you until grade 11. I'm not saying math isn't important, it's only important up to a certain extent and should become optional after that point.

After you learn how to multiply, divide, add, subtract, find percentages, write cheques, calculate pay (basically the essential stuff) it really serves no purpose unless you plan to take a college course that requires advanced math.

Actually, no, this is one area where I don't think an expanded cirriculum is necessary for a few reasons. One, remedial classes do not necessarily set you back a year, you can often take summer classes and/or do them at a community college to save money. Two, I think there are a lot of areas I'd like to see the high school cirriculums expanded in, such as language and philosophy. THere's only so much room for expansion, though, and once you hit a certain point you're doing more harm than good by piling on students. Three, most math is so specific to certain areas that once you get past some pretty basic classes you can make a determination as to what you're going to need and what you're not. Not everyone will use calc or trig or stats, but someone will probably use one of those three. Given that, I think that the basic level of algebra needed to go into any of those three should be a high school requirement, but the more specialized classes should be left to college.

As to math staying fresh in your mind, there are a couple answers for that. One is to practice on your own, I know I have that problem with language and I paractice independently when I can't go from one language class right into the next because of scheduling. Two, you could try to take math classes in your junior and senior years, although I know high school scheduling isn't always that flexible, but that's something that should probably change. Overall, I just think that high school classes should plug as easily as possible into college ones, and in my experience my math classes have been the one area where I thought that goal was accomplished.

yes and they should require after school tutoring for those falling behind. The education system in the U.S. is really an embarassment. I had to take 3 math classes in community college before I was allowed to take college algebra.

Meat_Wad_Fan

That was the other thing I was going to say, is that students who need help with math often get left in the dust. When I went back to college I only needed one remedial class, and really that was more because I had a lapse of like five years between high school and college, the stuff they taught me in high school transferred over pretty well. Howeve, I know people I went to high school with that had trouble with math, and all they really did was put them in these remedial classes. All that ended up doing was setting them back further because they just taught at a slower pace instead of trying to match students with tutors. That's one area I don't think the U.S. education system understands at all, is how to educate slower learners. The assumption is usually that if they don't catch on as fast as other students, then they never will.

People actually retain stuff from High School?

No. I absolutely hated maths and was never, ever good at it and I was quite content having English as the only compulsary subject.

we took maths each year in highschool from where I come from.

Obviously, it's a vital life skill. If you're actually smart, you shouldn't have to take remedial classes.rcignoni

Really? Is college algebra vital? Considering we take it throughout highschool unless we do trig, calc or statistics. Is highschool algebra even vital? At that point we had taken it for over eight years of our life. I fail to see how taking it that many times will imprive us when we've already got the basics;

Having trouble with a certain subject doesn't make you stupid.

In the UK its up till you finish secondary school. at 16 I think thats about right, the cut off should probably be around 16 y/o, by that point you've learnt all the arithmatic and practical sense of the subject, and going on further is a little pointless if you arn't following a career in which more complex calculation and math experience is needed

i think you should always be enrolled in two math classes throughout primary school. one theoretical one applied.

The math ability among human beings, even well educated westeners is embarrassing. I know people with master's degrees who can't add SINGLE DIGIT numbers without using their fingers. I swear 1/3 of my class needs to pull out a calculator to calculate their % score on a test that was out of 50.

children become too reliant on calculators at a young age and never really learn, they just pull out a calculator. calculators should be banned until grade 12. even after grade 12, they should always be banned on tests, unless its a math course which heaviliy relies on trig fxs, scientific calculator stuff. Basially anything that can be done with a normal calculator(not a scientific calculator), one should be able to do with a pencil and paper, (square roots may be approximated between two integers). Thus any test that does not rely on a scientific calculator should have calculators banned.

The math ability among human beings, even well educated westeners is embarrassing. I know people with master's degrees who can't add SINGLE DIGIT numbers without using their fingers. I swear 1/3 of my class needs to pull out a calculator to calculate their % score on a test that was out of 50. STAR_Admiral

[QUOTE="STAR_Admiral"]The math ability among human beings, even well educated westeners is embarrassing. I know people with master's degrees who can't add SINGLE DIGIT numbers without using their fingers. I swear 1/3 of my class needs to pull out a calculator to calculate their % score on a test that was out of 50. surrealnumber5

The math ability among human beings, even well educated westeners is embarrassing. I know people with master's degrees who can't add SINGLE DIGIT numbers without using their fingers. I swear 1/3 of my class needs to pull out a calculator to calculate their % score on a test that was out of 50.

children become too reliant on calculators at a young age and never really learn, they just pull out a calculator. calculators should be banned until grade 12. even after grade 12, they should always be banned on tests, unless its a math course which heaviliy relies on trig fxs, scientific calculator stuff. Basially anything that can be done with a normal calculator(not a scientific calculator), one should be able to do with a pencil and paper, (square roots may be approximated between two integers). Thus any test that does not rely on a scientific calculator should have calculators banned.

STAR_Admiral

Yes. Almost all colleges and universities require high school math as entrance requirements.foxhound_fox

Actually they give a test here for math and English skills. Then they place you in either basic or algebra. Both of which are taught in grade/middle school depending on how your schools go.LJS9502_basic

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"]Actually they give a test here for math and English skills. Then they place you in either basic or algebra. Both of which are taught in grade/middle school depending on how your schools go.foxhound_fox

yes and they should require after school tutoring for those falling behind. The education system in the U.S. is really an embarassment. I had to take 3 math ****s in community college before I was allowed to take college algebra.

Meat_Wad_Fan

Require after school tutoring???
Who would have to teach those kids?...Are you going to make teachers work even more?... Would you pay them more?...Where would this funding come from?

Does the fault in your situation lie with you, your teachers, the school...or some combination?

Remember that a teacher's job is not to make you learn (that is impossible). Their job is to present the material to you and facilitate you actively learning the material.

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"]Actually they give a test here for math and English skills. Then they place you in either basic or algebra. Both of which are taught in grade/middle school depending on how your schools go.foxhound_fox

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"]Actually they give a test here for math and English skills. Then they place you in either basic or algebra. Both of which are taught in grade/middle school depending on how your schools go.musicalmac

Of course. We should all have to go from Alg1 all the way through Pre-Calc.musicalmac

Why?

[QUOTE="musicalmac"]Of course. We should all have to go from Alg1 all the way through Pre-Calc.airshocker

Why?

But someone that's going a different route should choose cIasses that will help that career.LJS9502_basic

Even though you may not be specializing in something related the the field of mathematics, it certainly helps your chances at getting into good colleges. Every student has a fit somewhere. There is no such thing as "the best school" for everyone. I looked at Harvard, Hawaii Pacific, and a small, liberal arts college in the American Midwest. I ended up attending the third school, simply because it was the best fit for me, personally.

That being said, schools want well-rounded, educated students. The more you can show that, the better your chances at admission to the school of your choice are, to the school you fit best. Why sabotage that luxury?musicalmac

Not everyone is going to go into a mathematics-centered career. Why should we be making "well-rounded" students when we can make specialists based on their skills and interests? Now I'm not saying drop mathematics entirely, but certainly when you get into high-school. You've already learned the basics from grade one to eight, why anything more? Unless you specifically want it and your skills lie in that area, I see no reason to screw the rest of us over who have always been bad at math and don't wish to take it's advanced variants.

I see no benefit in going through this same old teaching method that doesn't seem to be helping us too much. Where do we rank in math compared to the rest of the world?

I think it's far more beneficial to tailor the curriculum to the student, not the other way around.

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"] But someone that's going a different route should choose cIasses that will help that career.foxhound_fox

Not everyone is going to go into a mathematics-centered career. Why should we be making "well-rounded" students when we can make specialists based on their skills and interests? Now I'm not saying drop mathematics entirely, but certainly when you get into high-school. You've already learned the basics from grade one to eight, why anything more? Unless you specifically want it and your skills lie in that area, I see no reason to screw the rest of us over who have always been bad at math and don't wish to take it's advanced variants.

I see no benefit in going through this same old teaching method that doesn't seem to be helping us too much. Where do we rank in math compared to the rest of the world?

I think it's far more beneficial to tailor the curriculum to the student, not the other way around.

airshocker

If you want to live life with blinders on, that's your choice. That is why there are trade and pre-professional schools, for people who aren't interested in expanding their education -- which is perfectly fine. Your choice.musicalmac

How do I have blinders on? Because I don't think that advanced math is beneficial to the uninterested? :?

Some people don't want to go to technical schools. They want to go to a university where they can learn english and history and be spared the math classes they've never been good at.

How do I have blinders on? Because I don't think that advanced math is beneficial to the uninterested? :?

Some people don't want to go to technical schools. They want to go to a university where they can learn english and history and be spared the math classes they've never been good at.

airshocker

True Story:

I did not take math during my Jr and Sr years at school.