Podcast About The Math Myth
I had heard of the book, The Math Myth, and was curious to learn more about it. I found this podcast that is an interview with the author Andrew Hacker. Although I disagreed with many of the arguments that he made against math, I did agree with some of his points.
The author points out that the high school drop out rate is 1 in 5. He believes that this has to do with the fact that students are forced to take higher-level math in high school. I agree that for some students this is the reason they drop out, but you can't blame math as the sole reason students drop out. There are many other factors that lead students to drop out of high school.
Andrew Hacker says that, "mathematics is a barrier that everyone has to cross." He gives an example that if you want to study modern dance at Princeton you still have to be really good at math and get a very high score on the SAT. He is right that math is not necessary if you want to study dance, but you could make an argument for other subjects as well. I know that I don't use algebra very often in my everyday life but I also don't use what I learned in biology or history, etc. I think all of the subjects are important though because they give you a balanced education. Even though I might not use the specifics from those subjects in my life, I do use skills like problem-solving and critical thinking that I learned in all of those classes. I don't think we should eliminate higher-level math in high school like they suggest in this podcast. I do agree though that more colleges should make the SAT optional. I do think that is a barrier for students.
Andrew claims that only 5% of occupations use higher-level mathematics. I tried to confirm this statistic. I found on multiple sites that only 5% of occupations use calculus. This makes sense to me. The sites had greater than 5% that use other higher-level math though like algebra, geometry, and statistics.
Overall, this podcast was an interesting listen. As a math teacher, it is a very different perspective than my own. I like listening to other's opinions that differ from mine though. It left me with a lot of thoughts and questions.
The author points out that the high school drop out rate is 1 in 5. He believes that this has to do with the fact that students are forced to take higher-level math in high school. I agree that for some students this is the reason they drop out, but you can't blame math as the sole reason students drop out. There are many other factors that lead students to drop out of high school.
Andrew Hacker says that, "mathematics is a barrier that everyone has to cross." He gives an example that if you want to study modern dance at Princeton you still have to be really good at math and get a very high score on the SAT. He is right that math is not necessary if you want to study dance, but you could make an argument for other subjects as well. I know that I don't use algebra very often in my everyday life but I also don't use what I learned in biology or history, etc. I think all of the subjects are important though because they give you a balanced education. Even though I might not use the specifics from those subjects in my life, I do use skills like problem-solving and critical thinking that I learned in all of those classes. I don't think we should eliminate higher-level math in high school like they suggest in this podcast. I do agree though that more colleges should make the SAT optional. I do think that is a barrier for students.
Andrew claims that only 5% of occupations use higher-level mathematics. I tried to confirm this statistic. I found on multiple sites that only 5% of occupations use calculus. This makes sense to me. The sites had greater than 5% that use other higher-level math though like algebra, geometry, and statistics.
Overall, this podcast was an interesting listen. As a math teacher, it is a very different perspective than my own. I like listening to other's opinions that differ from mine though. It left me with a lot of thoughts and questions.
What an interesting perspective on math. I agree with you that math cannot be the sole reason students drop out from high school. I recognize that there are many math requirements in high school, but are they really "higher-level". Traditionally, in my high school, students took algebra, geometry, and algebra II. One year of math had to be in the senior year. Sometimes students took business math if they took algebra II their junior year. As someone who went on to higher education. If I had not taken the advanced math courses that I did and instead followed the traditional route, I would have been behind in the math I needed to take. Anyways, back to my point, the math that is required to take in Idaho really isn't "higher-math".
ReplyDeleteAndrew Hacker who was interviewed in this podcast believes higher-level math includes algebra and geometry. He thinks students shouldn't have to take either of these courses in high school. I disagree with this because I think these courses are important. I think that's a great idea that your high school required that you take math senior year. Mine did not so I know a lot of people that didn't take math that year. Then when they went to take the math placement test for college they did not do very well. They had to take some remedial math classes.
DeleteMath is that subject that more people dislike than enjoy, but I do not think it could be the sole reason for people to drop out of high school. I also feel higher math like algebra and geometry should be taught in high school for many reasons. For one, universities are not all the same when it comes to their math requirements. When I was looking for computer science options a few years back, some universities only required higher levels of algebra and geometry while most required calculus. Either way, you will need to understand those higher levels of math to participate or take a lot of extra semesters to catch up. Then there is the saying with math “why learn this if I will never use it”. I use to think that in high school, but I now use algebra, geometry, and statistics all the time in my professional and private life, but maybe I am just different.
ReplyDeleteI think algebra and geometry are really important for high school too. You are right that most universities require that you have taken these to get in. Even if a student doesn't go to college I still think these classes would be beneficial. I also use algebra, geometry, and statistics in my own life outside of work. Particularly when I am calculating costs or building something. It's even helpful when watching baseball!
DeleteI went to look for a video that includes math and dance. I found a lot of math dance challenges, but I also found a video called FIRST Math Dance. (https://youtu.be/wkv67triuVg) However, the only math that I remember in my dance class was when I had to count the steps.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely check out that video! I have limited service where I am right now so I can’t watch it yet. It sounds fun!
DeleteIn elementary school, I remember one of my math teachers who was on her way out the door to retirement. She made us complete odd problems and do what we didn't complete for homework. I hated math because it frustrated me. I have always been afraid to teach upper grades because of how much math frustrates me. Crazy that my mom loves it, especially fractions. I didn't get the math gene, I guess. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI’ve definitely had teachers like that too that just don’t care anymore. That can make any subject frustrating. I think that’s good though that you stick with grades you feel comfortable teaching. I have definitely met teachers who teach upper grades that talk about how much they hate math and I wonder if they are passing that hatred on to their students.
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