You can hold steady to your belief in higher education as a purely
intellectual endeavor, but I know that my students (and the tax payers who
fund their education) regard their degree as a meal ticket to a job. Now,
I'm not in agreement with this reality, but I believe it is a reality.
As an educator, I continue to grapple with these issues and create a
balance rather than taking a hard line.
This discussion focuses too much on the student using math anxiety as an
excuse. I'm interested in the two students I've encountered in the past
five years who I believe can succeed in a non-science field but cannot
pass a math class and are precluded from advanced degrees because of this.
I know many of you believe they should be precluded. I don't. And I'm
not going to advise them to give up on their dreams of being an art major
or a social worker.
At any rate, I now have a lot of good information from this discussion and
I thank you for that.
Helen Burn
Highline Community College
Seattle, WA
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