I'd say in most western countries students don't have enough math, Basic calculus up to simple Differential Equations, Algebra up to Quadratics, and the basic Statistical tests should be a minimum. I regret not being taught some of this math before university. And not knowing some math prevented me from obtaining deeper knowledge in much of the arts and humanities (I'd probably be much better at drawing if there'd been more formal Geometry, for instance.)
I know people taught in Soviet countries with far better math education, one who I went to school with. He learned calculus at age 11, in a post soviet school. He was smart but not super smart.
I honestly remember spending three years at school doing the same basic trig problems over again each year and I really think we could accelerate teaching in early secondary.
Now the way tories are doing this is heroically dumb and will alienate any teen that isn't a budding stemlord. But the idea that "most" students won't use math is really "most students aren't properly taught to use math, even when it would be really relevant to the problem they have"
I’d say in most western countries students don’t have enough math, Basic calculus up to simple Differential Equations, Algebra up to Quadratics, and the basic Statistical tests should be a minimum.
Those are all done at GCSE before the age of 16 here. Nobody needs to suffer through how hard A2 Integration or A2 Mechanics is.
Basic calculus up to simple Differential Equations, Algebra up to Quadratics, and the basic Statistical tests should be a minimum.
Agreed on algebra (lots of practical uses) and statistics (used extremely often now, and often to mislead). But calc? I know a nuclear engineer who had trouble helping her kid with basic calc because she hadn't used it since college.
Totally agreed that the way we teach has a big impact on how difficult it is to learn, but that's an independent issue.
For calc it's not so much so that they can solve it on paper but that they recognise "this is gonna need a differential equation" and can then decide on plugging it into a computer or finding a nerd.
I'd say in most western countries students don't have enough math, Basic calculus up to simple Differential Equations, Algebra up to Quadratics, and the basic Statistical tests should be a minimum. I regret not being taught some of this math before university. And not knowing some math prevented me from obtaining deeper knowledge in much of the arts and humanities (I'd probably be much better at drawing if there'd been more formal Geometry, for instance.)
I know people taught in Soviet countries with far better math education, one who I went to school with. He learned calculus at age 11, in a post soviet school. He was smart but not super smart.
I honestly remember spending three years at school doing the same basic trig problems over again each year and I really think we could accelerate teaching in early secondary.
Now the way tories are doing this is heroically dumb and will alienate any teen that isn't a budding stemlord. But the idea that "most" students won't use math is really "most students aren't properly taught to use math, even when it would be really relevant to the problem they have"
Those are all done at GCSE before the age of 16 here. Nobody needs to suffer through how hard A2 Integration or A2 Mechanics is.
Agreed on algebra (lots of practical uses) and statistics (used extremely often now, and often to mislead). But calc? I know a nuclear engineer who had trouble helping her kid with basic calc because she hadn't used it since college.
Totally agreed that the way we teach has a big impact on how difficult it is to learn, but that's an independent issue.
For calc it's not so much so that they can solve it on paper but that they recognise "this is gonna need a differential equation" and can then decide on plugging it into a computer or finding a nerd.
deleted by creator