[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

View post   
File: 65 KB, 800x402, PublicSchool.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
10361755 No.10361755 [Reply] [Original]

What is wrong with how math is taught today in schools and how should it be changed? Was it better in the past?

>> No.10361756
File: 176 KB, 640x3030, education.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
10361756

>>10361755

>> No.10361765

>>10361755
one-size-fits-all schooling is retarded and unfair

>> No.10362244

>>10361755
Instead of schools teaching kids "what you see is what you get" both in mathematics or in other subjects they tend to shift from overly abstract or complex matter not suitable for the age to teaching them nothing but counting to 10 on their fingers.
Its a joke and a cruel one at that.

>> No.10362637

I think teaching methods have improved but not fast enough to counter the decline of the public education system.
If they had the same budget as the 90s adjusted for inflation I think the results would be better with current methods but that isn't the case.

Something that is also overlooked is every teacher should know what careers are linked to their subject and relay that to all students. I was always the best in class at math but had no idea it had uses outside of being a math teacher until I was 20.

>> No.10362698

>>10361755
Curricular thinking. In order to achieve intuitional understanding, you have to drill more of the basics, not subject students to a continuous flood of building upon building where even the slightest lapse of attention will cause them to lose the thread. You also need more of a connection between courses to reinforce previous learning.
Lack of motivation. E.g. Calculus should not be introduced without a strong connection to physics. Difference equations are foundational, not some corner case. What is algebra useful for? Most students couldn't tell you.

>> No.10362960

Ex-math teacher here. The real answer is elementary school teachers. Students are fiddled because they have to spend 6 years with completely unqualified teachers who hardly understand the elementary school math themselves. It's like if you started a 13 year marathon and got repeatedly tripped for six years straight off the starting line. Its the #1 cause for students
a.) not liking math
b.) not understanding math
c.) developing mental blocks that prevent them from learning it later.
My job became going to schools around the district and being a math coach, and what I saw at the elementary levels was infuriating and ultimately lead to me leaving the profession.

>> No.10363131

>>10362960
>What I saw at the elementary levels was infuriating and ultimately lead to me leaving the profession.
Care to give an example or two?

>> No.10363196

>>10363131
My mom is the physics teacher at a high school. She has some MSc liberal art degree. How it's in sciences and not arts is beyond me. She went to one of those private liberal art universities. My undergrad was Physics and I truly wonder what my mom knows on the subject. I rarely talk to my parents though and if I do it's certainly not about their professions.

But on the other hand what person with a Physics degree would want to become a primary education teacher. I'd assume the same for a math teacher. They should pay math and science teachers more but require a degree in the field, but the higher pay will attract physicians and mathematicians to put up with teaching kids. Make it a respectable job is what I'm saying.

>> No.10363285

>>10361755
I mean for highschools Calculus shouldn't even be offered, because for the most part the human brain is incapable of understanding it at that age

>> No.10363310

>>10363285
Wtf are you on? Highschool level calculus is like any other subject of highschool math, you practice and you get better at it

>> No.10363504

>>10362960
I think high school teachers peddling mindless ideas like "slope-intercept form" share the blame

>> No.10363545
File: 119 KB, 1216x970, sci education reform.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
10363545

>>10361755
The solution

>> No.10364054

>>10363196
There is no need for a degree to teach an elementary level subject but being able ace the same subject at the highschool level should be a requirement.
Test the teachers, if you fail you are out of the job.

>> No.10364194

>>10363545
In my private school, we had all that done by fifth grade. You poor Amerilards.

>> No.10364217

Math teachers are fucking soulless cro-magnon witch people who don't understand their own subject enough to see that there are far more intuitive ways to explain it. My math teachers completely stomped out any appreciation I had for math as a child and it wasn't until half way through college that I realized not only that it's incredibly interesting, but that I'm actually really good at it.

Only a foul bug person could make something so beautiful and intuitive so unappetizing

>> No.10364284

>>10361755
couple math with application as much as possible. for instance, i learned some basic linear algebra in HS, but had no idea what it was good for, so i forgot it immediately. fast forward a few years and a physics and engineering education, and i would say without hesitation that it is by far the most useful math i know. i have no idea what the fuck people are doing teaching kids about matrices without an application backing it up.

>> No.10364293

>>10363196
>I hate my mom and don't talk to her.
>I also don't understand why people teach.
That doesn't really have anything to do with the question.