Math...

[Pavan Dave]

I've been very quiet on CD recently and on my return, I thought it appropriate to share this picture I stumbled on this morning.






Pavan



.

[JohnBoucher]

Spot on

[JaneYoung]

I didn't know that failing math or failing to doing homework for more than 15 minutes was gender-specific.

Jane

[JamesCH95]

This makes me laugh on the outside, and cry on the inside.

I wouldn't believe it if my girlfriend wasn't a teacher and already giving failing grades high school seniors in geometry...

[fireyoshi]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

I didn't know that failing math or failing to doing homework for more than 15 minutes was gender-specific.

Many websites I've gone on state that the use of "he" as a gender-neutral pronoun is "archaic and sexist". I'm just a college freshman, and I learned to use "he" as a gender-neutral noun in elementary school, and that was less than ten years ago.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

I didn't know that failing math or failing to doing homework for more than 15 minutes was gender-specific.

Jane

I believe HE'LL is capitalized because it implies that the person is going to Hell.

[Jared Russell]

I realize I may be toeing a sensitive line with this reply, but I can't resist:



If it's any consolation, the engineers of the 1960's complained that THEIR children had it easy and were lazy, too (I know my grandfather did). It's pretty much a universal truth that Generation N thinks that Generation N+1 is going to be the downfall of the human race.

Are kids today REALLY any different than they've ever been?

"It's amazing how long this country has been going to hell without ever having gotten there." - Andy Rooney

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Jared341

"It's amazing how long this country has been going to hell without ever having gotten there." - Andy Rooney

The journey is the reward.


-dave




.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by dlavery

The journey is the reward.

In dealing with math this is so true.

I do have to bring up the point though, is it really the student's fault they don't want to do their homework? I am going to quote from a paper I was reading when I clicked into this thread (isn't random coincidence funny?).

Originally Posted by Paul Lockhart (A Mathematician's Lament)

The main problem with school mathematics is that there are no problems. Oh, I know what passes for problems in math classes, these insipid “exercises.” “Here is a type of problem. Here is how to solve it. Yes it will be on the test. Do exercises 1-35 odd for homework.” What a sad way to learn mathematics: to be a trained chimpanzee.
But a problem, a genuine honest-to-goodness natural human question— that’s another thing. How long is the diagonal of a cube? Do prime numbers keep going on forever? Is infinity a number? How many ways can I symmetrically tile a surface? The history of mathematics is the history of mankind’s engagement with questions like these, not the mindless regurgitation of formulas and algorithms (together with contrived exercises designed to make use of them).

By sheer chance I was reading that paper yesterday (I am really taking my time to digest it) when a friend mentioned they were struggling with their math course. Their main sticking point was they did not understand what they were finding, when asked what a derivative was they rattled off some equation they had been told to memorize. Figuring I had just asked the question in a bad manner I tried again by asking what it represented. They merely shrugged and said they didn't know.

I guess, in my mind, students not wanting to do homework is a symptom of something far more disturbing. Math education seems to be so focused on wrote memorization instead of passionate exploration.

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

In dealing with math this is so true.

I do have to bring up the point though, is it really the student's fault they don't want to do their homework? I am going to quote from a paper I was reading when I clicked into this thread (isn't random coincidence funny?).



By sheer chance I was reading that paper yesterday (I am really taking my time to digest it) when a friend mentioned they were struggling with their math course. Their main sticking point was they did not understand what they were finding, when asked what a derivative was they rattled off some equation they had been told to memorize. Figuring I had just asked the question in a bad manner I tried again by asking what it represented. They merely shrugged and said they didn't know.

I guess, in my mind, students not wanting to do homework is a symptom of something far more disturbing. Math education seems to be so focused on wrote memorization instead of passionate exploration.

This reminds me of some information our team coach likes to tell us, I don't have his sources.

80% of high school drop outs had passing grades. When the reason to their removal was investigated, they said they saw no application to what they were learning.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

I guess, in my mind, students not wanting to do homework is a symptom of something far more disturbing. Math education seems to be so focused on wrote memorization instead of passionate exploration.

In my experience, this is a systemic and massive problem that goes back to primary education. People are told "when you see this, do this" because it's easier and faster to teach that way, rather than defining what the symbols actually mean. Once you get past calculus, math gets taught the way it should be, with strict definitions based on other mathematical terms, and it throws so many math whizzes for a loop simply because they got through high school memorizing everything and taking an "if this do that" approach to math. So many students struggle with math classes because they can't make themselves do the what without knowing the why, rather than because they're inherently bad at math.

A bit depressing if you think about it too much...

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

In dealing with math this is so true.

I do have to bring up the point though, is it really the student's fault they don't want to do their homework? I am going to quote from a paper I was reading when I clicked into this thread (isn't random coincidence funny?).



By sheer chance I was reading that paper yesterday (I am really taking my time to digest it) when a friend mentioned they were struggling with their math course. Their main sticking point was they did not understand what they were finding, when asked what a derivative was they rattled off some equation they had been told to memorize. Figuring I had just asked the question in a bad manner I tried again by asking what it represented. They merely shrugged and said they didn't know.

I guess, in my mind, students not wanting to do homework is a symptom of something far more disturbing. Math education seems to be so focused on wrote memorization instead of passionate exploration.

Differential equations are covered in two classes at Cal Poly; one professor taught how most teachers would, the other strictly taught using practical examples (even on the first day! So we're making this circuit, which you guys know nothing about, but pretend you do.... Or, An engineer is analyzing the vibration of this beam...). It made quite a difference, and was a heck of a lot more interesting.

[JaneYoung]

The future is ours to set, change, determine - FIRST has a great way of influencing careers and there are a great many teachers and future teachers that are being influenced, empowered, and entrusted with helping to shape and define this awesome adventure that is the future.

That is no small thing.

Jane

[Radical Pi]

Coming from an above-average math student in HS (whatever that's worth in todays standards...), I think the root of the problem is in the student's willingness to work for their grades.

A few days ago we were working on a worksheet about numerical patterns (Algebra 2). I finished the whole page in 3 minutes while the rest of the class was still on question #2 (Guess why it's so easy - programming for FRC), so the teacher told me to help the 2 students behind me. As soon as I turned around, they asked me "Can I just copy down your answers?". After saying no many times, they finally started actually working on the problems. Still, they would continually try to just copy my answers, even trying to trick me into giving them ("Hey can I have your paper to check my answers to #1-4"), to the point where they were working harder on cheating than on actually thinking about the questions. Think about it: Students in an honors class trying harder to cheat than to figure out the answers themselves. I don't even know why it deserves to be called an honors class.

There also is a problem in the way we see teaching the students. Our district just passed a new rule that says teachers cannot fail students because they don't do homework (basically, if their homework grades put them below the fail threshold, then they still pass the class). We got that rule because too many students have been failing courses for not doing their homework...why don't they come up with some other way to get students to do homework? Or there are other problems like when a student who can't handle an honors class and refuses for come in on their free time for extra help is told by the teacher that the student needs to go to a regents level, the parent then calls and blames the teacher for not helping the student enough and forces the student to stay in honors class (I've seen it happen). What about sports? The rules in our district say that a student can have all their grades be C- (possibly even D+) and still be allowed to participate freely in sports. Why are the expectations so low?

My point is, why does the school and district do so little to provide incentives for the students to do well in their classes and even occasionally provide free passes to students who don't deserve to be in the class at all?

[theprgramerdude]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

In dealing with math this is so true.

I do have to bring up the point though, is it really the student's fault they don't want to do their homework? I am going to quote from a paper I was reading when I clicked into this thread (isn't random coincidence funny?).



By sheer chance I was reading that paper yesterday (I am really taking my time to digest it) when a friend mentioned they were struggling with their math course. Their main sticking point was they did not understand what they were finding, when asked what a derivative was they rattled off some equation they had been told to memorize. Figuring I had just asked the question in a bad manner I tried again by asking what it represented. They merely shrugged and said they didn't know.

I guess, in my mind, students not wanting to do homework is a symptom of something far more disturbing. Math education seems to be so focused on wrote memorization instead of passionate exploration.

This is so, so true. At my school, there are numerous courses which students (including me) are required to take, yet they hate taking them, simply because they teach nothing of value. Or rather, we learn nothing of value. Teachers are trying to teach something we see no point in learning, like why, or rather, what types of dictatorships there are in the world. There's no point to all of this pseudo-learning going on. It does nothing to help us. When does the value of c cause the limit to exist for this equation.... all garbage.

Maybe I'm ranting too much due to the concussion and the pressure on my brain at the moment, but I've noticed there has definitely got to be something fundamentally wrong with the "teaching" in school today.