Education

[fillipino_wannabe]

I just asked my 24 year step daughter what's 7x7 and she said 'ahh can't you ask me 7x5 instead, then she started using her fingers from 35 and got there after about 30 seconds.

Asked her how she managed to pass maths in high school and she said the teacher gave them a calculator and marked the tests herself lol.

[Mike J]

17 hours ago, Possum said:

But then she noticed clouds and wanted to know where they came from, why are some white and some grey. How does water get up there, why aren't clouds lower, who said it's 6.5 degrees cooler every 1000 meters up? and on and on....

This is one of the reasons I love working with youth here.

Edited June 28 by Mike J

[scott h]

13 minutes ago, Mike J said:

This one of the reasons I love working with youth here.

 

 

Edited June 28 by scott h

[Lee1154]

On 6/27/2024 at 9:41 AM, craftbeerlover said:

This boggles my mind.   Both of these are the result of a piss poor education system, and shitty parenting.   Amazing you so easily justify mathematical ignorance, while at the same time admonish an inability to read and comprehend.  just wow.   Then others seemingly justify having ones face in tiktok, mobile legends and FB all day by saying things like, silicon valley or the military would want them...   Just NO.... It is not we are dinosaurs, the education SUCKS here...  I dont see silicon valley setting up Job Fairs here.     When I see a cashier using a calculator to subtract 20 pesos from 100 pesos, and does it three times to make sure she is correct, I do not say to myself, 'its ok, I am sure she is very cell phone savvy"   For fck sake, just learning how to solve math problems boosts your cognitive skills, problem solving skills, attention to detail etc...  We are talking basic math, skills that people do and will use on a daily basis, unless of course they have no hope of a future, never have to plan a family budget, never have to budget for vacation,  shop for food more smartly, or ironically enough, plan for their children's education.  

Yes, the math sucks here.  I think that math sucks for a lot of people including expats that pay 2500PHP per square meter for land.  My math says that is around $200,000 per acre.

[Lee1154]

On 6/27/2024 at 1:16 PM, Lee said:

Geography ????? I have seen students that couldn't look at a map----any map---and know which direction E, W, S, or N was.

Perhaps to better understand what some of us are saying----a person with a basic education should be able to answer the following questions. Over the years I have tutored several students and they have all missed these questions. These are HS students in grades 10-12 who get good grades.

1) 3/4 + 1/2 =?

2) If a car travels 50 KPH (I usually have to explain this term). How far will it travel in 2.5 hours?

3) Tom has to be at work at 8AM (not Filipino time !!). It takes 1.5 hours on the bus to get to work. What time should Tom leave so as to be on time?

4) Sally has 3 times as many mangoes as Bill. Bill has 8 mangoes so how many mangoes does Sally have?

5) You walk out of your house one morning when the sun is just starting to rise. The light from the sun appears to be directly in your eyes. What direction are you most likely facing?

This is basic stuff---not hard----something that every young adult should know and understand. But they don't. I have used these same questions many times over the years to evaluate students and they miss them every time. Surely, we can do better than this.

Hey guy, with problem #1 it seems that you have more than 1 pie!!!  You should just share some. ha

[hk blues]

15 hours ago, GeoffH said:

It's not that maths isn't taught, it's that students are 'streamed' with those showing some talent for maths given further education and those showing little interest and talent being moved to classes covering other topics.

The arguments for doing so are various but a bit long winded to go into detail here.

I've no idea if what you describe is the norm here but my son is pretty weak in maths but has not been 'streamed' out in either of the 2 schools he has attended.  They don't even segregate them into different groups based on ability. I will add though, that in the UK we had maths as a standard subject only until Grade 2 of High school - thereafter it was an optional subject. That's not so different to streaming albeit by another name.

ETA - In Scotland at least, we had both Maths and Arithmetic.  Most of what others have posted in this thread would be covered in Arithmetic, not Maths. 

Edited June 29 by hk blues

[Tommy T.]

Well... In Canada and USA (I grew up in both), math was taught mandatory in grade school and then high school, including the so-called "new math" way back when they were instructing us with "sets." Honestly, that instruction proved, to me, to be inspirational. It helped me organize my math problems and, since then, continue to help me to solve some problems in my head rather than using a calculator or cell phone. However, I still never could manage calculus... just could not do it...

So, what's the problem with teaching kids basic math? I don't get it. Dinosaur here again...

Actually, I do get it... Simply encourage kids in cell phone usage and everything will be solved! If not on their own gadget, then FaceBook will provide the answer - right or wrong...

 

Edited June 29 by Tommy T.

[craftbeerlover]

3 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Well... In Canada and USA (I grew up in both), math was taught mandatory in grade school and then high school, including the so-called "new math" way back when they were instructing us with "sets." Honestly, that instruction proved, to me, to be inspirational. It helped me organize my math problems and, since then, continue to help me to solve some problems in my head rather than using a calculator or cell phone. However, I still never could manage calculus... just could not do it...

So, what's the problem with teaching kids basic math? I don't get it. Dinosaur here again...

the argument against that and/or the justification is a head scratcher to me.   It is literally akin to saying, nothing needs to be taught because everybody can access anything on their smart phone

[Jack Peterson]

5 minutes ago, craftbeerlover said:

It is literally akin to saying, nothing needs to be taught because everybody can access anything on their smart phone

 That just about sums up this generation 

[Cola Cubes]

Here is one for you all.

Count out 49 peanuts, any item, and put it in a pile.

Ask your wife to count how many are in the pile.

Try it.  I think you will be surprised.

The vast majority lack the concentration ability necessary to be able to count accurately.