I keep coming back to the thought that college is more about helping
students become educated people rather than helping them become
employees. I am concerned that earning a living is not the only thing my
students will do. They will also vote, write letters to editors, as a
group they will exert a certain amount of influence on others. I hope
that they will know enough math (and science and history and...) to be
able to make sense of the myriad complex issues facing the world. This is
simply not possible without a more-than-rudimentary knowledge of those
disciplines. Thomas Jefferson's admonitions regarding the necessity of a
voting populace to be well-educated is not to be ignored.
John M. Flanigan <johnf@hawaii.edu> The equation is the final arbiter.
Math Resource Instructor --Werner Heisenberg
Kapi'olani Community College The scoreboard is the final arbiter.
Honolulu, Hawaii --Bill Walton
On Fri, 19 Apr 1996, Geoffrey Akst wrote:
> At 10:48 AM 4/19/96, Andy Bulleri wrote:
> >The Program Issues Committee of AMATYC requests your input on the following
> >draft position statement. Your input is seriously needed. Thanks in
> >advance.
> >
> >The Associate Degree Subcommittee of the Program Issues Committee has
> >prepared a position paper on minimal mathematics requirements for the A.A.
> >and A.S. degrees. A draft of a key part of the recommendation follows.
> >
> >Draft: Recommended Mathematics Requirements for the A.A. and A.S. Degrees
> >
> > Based on the premise that mathematics is a vital part of a college
> >education and the workforce we are training our students to enter and that
> >there are still some degree programs which have no mathematics
> >requirements, the Committee recommends that:
> >
> > As a minimum standard, colleges should require students to have
> >successfully completed at least one mathematics course, carrying three or
> >more credits, to obtain any A.A degree or A.S. degree.
> >
> > This should be a college level mathematics course. We will need a
> > definition of college level. In Maryland it is a course which has a
> > prerequisite of at least an "Intermediate Algebra " Course.
>
> I would certainly support this position for a bac degree and for an
> associates degree in most curricula. But I wonder if in a low-math
> curriculum (say secretarial science), supporting a college-level math
> requirement with an ELEMENTARY algebra pre-req might be more reasonable.
> Of course in every field of study, faculty want students to study as much
> of the discipline as possible.
>
> On a related point, should we at AMATYC in this kind of discussion continue
> to use such traditional terms as elementary and intermediate algebra, in
> light of the Crossroads document? (Also, New York State high schools
> generally do not offer courses called Elementary Algebra or Intermediate
> Algebra, but rather various integrated math courses.)
>
> What do others think?
>
> Geoffrey Akst
> Manhattan CC
> akst@chelsea.ios.com
>