Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!att-ih!pacbell!ames!mailrus!umix!uunet!dalcs!aucs!870158a
From: 870158a@aucs.UUCP (Benjamin Armstrong)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: In defence of the K-12 school system
Summary: Mandatory math, motivation, etc.
Keywords: mandatory math
Message-ID: <1025@aucs.UUCP>
Date: 30 Mar 88 18:37:23 GMT
References: <3435@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> <1005@aucs.UUCP> <3635@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Organization: School of Computer Science, Acadia Univ., Nova Scotia
Lines: 43

In article <3635@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>, tlh@cs.purdue.EDU (Thomas L. Hausmann) writes:
> Or are victims of their own fear of failing.  You cannot always attribute
> ignorance to "poor quality education"  If your friends did not take higher
> math courses where skills with fractions become commonly used, then it is 
> their own fault for not taking those courses.

A particular friend of mine (whom I had in mind when I suggested that the
quality of education is at fault) said that she did take math courses in which
she learned to manipulate fractions.  However, she never really understood
what she was doing at the time despite the fact that her marks were above the
average for her class.  She never retained what she learned because her school
made it easy for her to pass her math courses without actually learning
anything.  I believe that this may be more common in math courses than
many educators are aware.  What happens is the student will not be motivated
to explore the subject and become familiar with the basic concepts which are
being taught if she can get by without them.  I encountered the same problem
in my honours high school math courses.  I often did not need to do anything
more than study for the tests the night before in order to get a good mark,
and by the end of high school a lot of what I had "learned" was lost.  The
difference is that in the case of my friend, she was being taught material
which didn't motivate her because of her fear and dislike of math; in my case
I was not motivated because I did not deem it worthwhile to put effort into
the courses if I could get by without it.  I now regret my apathy in high
school but am asking myself whether I am completely to blame.  After talking
to others about their experiences with mathematics in school I am lead to
believe that the schools are, for whatever reasons, not adequately equipped
to motivate mathematics students.

As for my avoidance of calculus, I am sure that I will overcome my apprehension
and take it for the reasons you have stated.  The fact remains, however: I
do not look forward to the experience and I don't believe I should be feeling
this way considering that in other respects I am quite a capable student and
fledgling computer scientist.  No thanks to the schools for letting me get by
so far with so little and for dulling my appetite for mathematics.

> -Tom

Benjamin.
-- 
          Ben Armstrong at Acadia University, Wolfville N.S.
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