Topic: New Math in school

[blackdiamond]

...I don't remember doing some of this stuff till I was in college...

This in interesting to me because I was taking math in high school that was more advanced than what is required to graduate college now.  I think that math is getting  dumbed down and the higher levels because we want everyone to succeed.  This may be why many professions are now starting to require a Masters or PHD for the working level.  We are starting to cram 4 years of education into 6.

 

I have always figured that when people refer to math as "math" rather than by a specific name such as Algebra, Calculus or Ordinary Differential Equations they are probably not taking anything beyond the basics that I learned as a freshman or sophomore in high school.  I realize that not everyone, or every degree, needs to know the same level of math.

[germ]

I had to complete integral calculus, which was a PITA. Granted, I didn't do well in math in High School. I was too busy chasing skirts and drinking beer. When I returned to college several years later, I started out at "dummy math", which was basic addition, subtraction etc, then took math every single semester/quarter (2 different schools on different systems) until I completed IC. Some I took and failed in HS, but again, wasn't interested at that point. It really builds one on the other, and when you can take it continuously, without significant breaks, it actually is easier, because you never get "out of the habit" of doing math. I now find that I'm using stuff I'd forgotten on a frequent basis.

Erik