>Here is why all math instructors are either in therapy or should be.
>
>A typical student question: Where am I ever gonna use this junk?
>
>Instructor response: OK. Let's see. Here is an entire section on
>applications.
>
>Student response: Word Problems! :-(
>
Well yes, of course. Just look at so many of these word problems.
Find the length of a shadow cast by a flag pole. Find the degree
slant of a ladder if placed to reach window at height L. Are
these real world problems? Do painters get out their calculators
and take the acos of L/ladderlength? Does anyone with frequent
dealings with flag poles (e.g. Marines) care anything about the
length of the shadow?
A common failing of math curricula is to pretend that "word
problems" answer the question of "where am I ever gonna use
this junk?" I don't think the burden of proof is on the student,
to make a persuasive case that these particular problems are
going to matter.
On the other hand, I think a great many real world problems
which require math skills are being skipped, because the text
book companies like to recycle the same dated word problems
over and over, are too lazy to really anticipate the real
world futures of actual kids actually needing to be prepared
for real world positions. I state this as a former contributing
editor for text books -- I did my best to "reform from within"
(a rocky road, let me tell you).
Kids should be getting a lot more computer programming early.
Leaving computers to the biz curriculum, pretending the only
thing these machines are good for are wordprocessing, databases
and spreadsheets, is a criminal waste of serious tools. Too
many schools have their computers enslaved to running typing
tutor software, while the math kids down the hall are forced
to make do with calculators -- not even MathCad gets used!
I completely understand the ambivalance many kids experience
in their math classes, around this subject of relevance.
This is NOT to make the claim that math is irrelevant to
the real world. On the contrary, it is highly relevant.
But the math curriculum as a hand-me-down from the early
1900s is very much a waste of time in many many ways.
I hesitate not at all in sharing this opinion with students
(and teachers) and encourage them to spread the word.
Kirby
Curriculum writer
Oregon Curriculum Network
http://www.inetarena.com/~pdx4d/ocn/
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