2012-07-29, 19:19 | Link #22701 |
temporary safeguard
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Germany
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You say they struggle, but then you talk about lazy people, so how much did they struggle, really?
I have 'struggled' with french for example. Never got good grades, hated it. But I learned english just fine. That's because I needed it for playing english video games... both are languages. Motivation was the only difference. I'm specialised now into a technical profession, but that didn't have anything to do with talent either. Nothing I ever tried was hard. I mean really tried and put effort in. I could have done anything else, without any problem, if I had wanted to. But some things just weren't fun, so I got 'not so good' grades there. But in order to pass, I had to work on these things too. If that happens to be maths (and it was for me, for some years), you still need to get through that. It is not a wasted effort and it certainly won't hurt you. And that's how I believe it works. You are motivated, you put in some effort, you become good at it. At anything. Talent has nothing to do with that. Talent is needed to become great. But not for reaching a passing grade in school. Of course there may be exceptions, but he's talking about 50% of the population failing maths. |
2012-07-29, 20:00 | Link #22702 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ests/?src=recg
More spotlights on the suppression of Occupy Wall Street protests by unlawful police tactics including illegal violence, threats, and abuse of innocent bystanders, reporters, and random people making the "bad judgement of recording the abuses" Quote:
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2012-07-29, 20:06 | Link #22703 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
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I agree for the need of basic education in math for anyone with an interest in an academic career, even if it's just to be able to have a general understanding numerical data. Just like any academic needs a basic level of language skills. However not everyone will have to put in equal effort to acquire these skills. Last edited by Bri; 2012-07-29 at 20:27. |
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2012-07-29, 21:39 | Link #22704 | |||
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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I never enjoyed maths, though I didn't start to struggle with it until I was in Secondary 3 (the equivalent of Grade 9, I believe, or whatever grade you're supposed to be at 15). The main reason was that I couldn't "visualise" the way the equations or formulas worked. Whenever I asked classmates to explain, I would get puzzled stares, followed by the inevitable reply: "Just apply the formula, lah, why make things so difficult for yourself?" There is a funny scene in the Ghibli movie, Omoide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday), in which the protagonist, a little girl in elementary school, was struggling with maths, specifically the division of fractions by fractions (eg, 1/2 divide by 1/2 = 1). Her elder sister, having been ordered by their mother to tutor her, quickly got exasperated, and scolded the protagonist for being dumb. "Why can't you simply apply the formula?" the sister demanded. The crestfallen girl meekly demonstrated her confusion by drawing a circle. She said: "I can understand how dividing a circle in half gives you two pieces, but how do I draw the division of a half by a half? I don't understand how I get one whole circle again. Shouldn't it be one quarter?" Her elder sister was momentarily dumbstruck, and protested weakly: "No, that's the multiplication of fractions (1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4)." That only confused the poor girl further. "Ehhh.... how can that be?" she wailed. "Why does multiplication make the fraction smaller?" (It would later turn out that the girl was a gifted actress and potentially a great writer but, alas, her father never allowed her to develop her artistic talents.) The above, in a nutshell, encapsulates the problem I had with maths. A lot of the time, it was just a matter of teachers and fellow classmates telling me not to be dumb, just follow the rules and get your result, end of story. No further questions needed. No need to know why, just do. It's the reason I'm so much more interested in literature and history because, quite simply, I'm someone who needs to know the "why", rather than the "how". Stories, be they fiction or non-fiction, are much better vehicles for such answers. (Incidentally, I find the history of mathematics far more interesting than mathematics itself. I may not understand Fermat's Last Theorem but, by golly, the quest to solve the puzzle certainly made for good reading!) Well, now you know why I hate engineers. Most of the time, I find them to be uninteresting people who are good only at following formula, but not so good at asking questions, particularly bigger philosophical questions that require knowledge of history and of human emotions and motivation. Quote:
I'd say that it's just a case of "learned helplessness" though. As I'd just told Chain Legacy recently, in response to journalists saying that if they were good with numbers, they'd had become accountants or engineers instead, one acerbic senior copyeditor quipped: "Yeah, right. Let me dock your pay and bonus, then I'll see just how good you really are with numbers." |
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2012-07-29, 21:54 | Link #22705 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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I think foreign language education is probably the weakest part of modern education. As far as I'm aware, education does little to engender any lasting knowledge of a language. Real motivation is needed to successfully learn a language, and a lot of time. Far as I can see, the only successful method I've seen work for foreign language is immersion. Teach everything to the student through the language, from a young age, and they usually pick it up more more easily.One of the most successful examples of foreign language instruction is India, where many Indians have an excellent standard of English (especially when compared to neighbouring China). I think a big element of this is that many Indian schools carry out tuition almost entirely through English.
In Ireland every child receives 12(!) years of instruction in the Irish language. On graduating secondary school, how many do you think are able to functionally speak it? My sister got an A on it, and by now can barely speak it. This is largely because the language is totally useless in everyday life, and no one has the motivation to learn it. A 10th to a 6th of every Irish students time in school is spent on the Irish language, and that time seems to be wasted, as almost no students ends out being actually able to speak it functionally at the end. With total immersion, most people can learn a language to a high degree within 2 years, particularly children and teens. I don't see how requiring a foreign language is a good idea in schools. Another one I've never gotten is poetry. What do I get out of learning about Iambic hexameter? Or memorizing The Daffodils for the 10th time? |
2012-07-29, 22:33 | Link #22706 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
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We have foreign language requirements in California, but they limited the choices by the time I got there to Spanish or French (before they had had German as well). I had no interest in French at all and didn't really want to learn Spanish either dispite the state having an increasing number of Spanish only speakers. I maintained a C average for the four years I took Spanish in Middle and High Schools. Enough to pass and make the college entrance requirement without needing to take more in college.
I've forgotten most of my Spanish (mostly on purpose, but also because I don't use it) I can probably get one word in ten presently. At the time (7th grade) I would have much rather have taken German. I probably would have done much better as I would have been more motivated to learn. If it had been later I might have taken Japanese (if offered) for anime related reasons. What is odd is that I learned some Spanish when I was very little because back in the late 70s and early 80s Sesame Street taught Spanish words as well as English words. So I would pick up some Spanish here and there. But in the 10 or so years between that and 7th grade I forgot everything. A former girlfriend of mine on the other hand was a linguist. She just wanted to keep learning new languages in college having conversational Spanish, German, Swahili and others down before she gradated and I think was making up her own language using what she learned.
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Last edited by Ithekro; 2012-07-29 at 23:18. |
2012-07-29, 23:17 | Link #22707 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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More seriously, yes, such information is not very useful unless you're training a potential poet or writer. I believe that's why my practical criticism teacher avoided overwhelming us with technicalities. She would tell us what it is, and how it affects the way a poem sounds. More importantly, she wanted us to focus on the more "tangible" aspects, like a poem's imagery and themes, and how it relies on meter, rhyme and structure to support its artistic intent. And, if necessary, she'll tell us a bit more about a poem's historical context (most of the time, though, she'd avoid doing that, as the whole point of "practical criticism" is to appreciate a poem on its own merits, separate from the context that engendered it). Even so, it took most of my class more than a year to finally grasp what she was trying to show us. Many of us, including me, flunked in the first year. In my case, I had an epiphany sometime between the end of the first year and the start of the second year of junior college. It suddenly "clicked". For the first time, I thought of approaching poetry the way I would music, be it classical or pop music. Poetry, after all, is meant to be read aloud. Rhyme and rhythm matter because of how they affect the way a poem sounds. Once I noticed that, I found that I could tune in effortlessly to the importance of the words, why they were used and why they are placed where they are in a poem. In effect, I could picture a "movie" or "short film" in my mind through the poem, complete with sound and special effects. If a poem can't do that, then there is likely to be something wrong or ineffective about it. Most of the best poems, the kind we study in school, are unlikely to have such glaring flaws. Is such insight useful? I can't say for sure. It's certainly extremely useful for what I do today. Even among editors, there are those who are good with visualising information and those who aren't. The advantage usually goes to those who can. |
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2012-07-30, 01:41 | Link #22708 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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2012-07-30, 01:57 | Link #22709 | |||
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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I do enjoy math and science until secondary school, where it becomes a total bore. The teachers refused to explain why (a^2 + b^2) = a^2 + 2ab + b^2 and simply told us to apply; when I discovered the Pascal's Triangle through the net, I was told "it wasn't in your syllabus, don't bother with it". And I still don't get why the Times consistently rank Singapore the top few in math and science when our factories schools are so bloated and overrated, filled with sheningans in the syllabus planning rooms of MOE who don't want to bother with anything that goes beyond the textbook. We can study on our own just fine with the textbooks, so why do we even need teachers? Job-creation is an absolute lame excuse when teachers have no intent on teaching the students how to think critically and laterally; even the National Library Board would have generated significantly more productivity than the Ministry of Education. Quote:
The reason why most local engineers are just "uninteresting" is due to the sissy risk-adverse nature of the Singaporean society; by the time the bureaucracy finishes, the engineers would have tucked into two courses of buffet over lunch and dinner at their own sweet time. Mix with HVAC and Marine engineers and see how they solve problems; you'd be surprised how they work because they would die in one way or another, either literally (blown to bits by a decompression), laterally (lose their jobs because they can't fix the problems) or critically (the management refuses to endorse the unorthodox but highly effective solution - i.e mass welding the entire broken rail of the ship using the spare piping onboard, which is unaccountable in the books, instead of dry-docking the whole thing for repairs, which every cent is accounted for in the bill). Let's face it, both of you writers and techies are the same people, just that you both think differently. Otherwise why would both of your heads turn when I yell "Lolis incoming!"? Quote:
It is kind of interesting that how people can perform things they usually can't under pressure. Either that or they undergo a spontaneous combustion.
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Last edited by SaintessHeart; 2012-07-30 at 02:07. |
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2012-07-30, 04:09 | Link #22710 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Similarly, geometry can be fun if you demonstrate how it works with real-life buildings and structures, for example, using Pythagoras' theorem to calculate the height of a building given the length of its shadow and the angle of the sunlight. Statistics seems scary but, again, if the teacher can show its application to real-life examples that matter to students, learning becomes fun, because the usefulness of the mathematics becomes clear and obvious. Calculus, on the other hand, is tough. It's difficult to describe the measurement of change in concrete terms. The best I can think of is with graphs, which aren't a particularly appealing way to demonstrate calculus, since the graphs themselves are no less abstract than the mathematics. I suppose a better way would be to relate calculus with the measurement of things that matter to niche interests. Motorheads would be keen to learn how to calculate engine torque and power output per revolution and over time, for example. Basically, the challenge is for educators to make learning accessible and relatable to real life. Too often, educators teach by rote, because that's the way they learnt the same stuff when they themselves were students. Not enough imagination and empathy were applied to teaching methodologies in the past, but I gather that this has been changing for quite a few years now. |
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2012-07-30, 04:39 | Link #22711 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Special Report: In Himalayan arms race, China one-ups India
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...86T00G20120730
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2012-07-30, 10:06 | Link #22714 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: قلوب المؤمنين
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My friends in facebook are all currently in orange mode right now. While we know the probability of a South China Crisis is still a bit far ahead, let alone WW3, people are seriously preparing their muscles at the moment, and it's quite disconcerting. The upside for me in it though, is that it's essentially a good thing for Indonesia's military improvement and general diplomatic standing.
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2012-07-30, 16:34 | Link #22716 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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And really... cars? How many high schoolers would care? How many teachers, for that matter... And then, you'll tell me the teachers are paid, and that they should come up with 30 different reasons for 30 different students (per class) to care about every single formula they teach. The truth is that there isn't always an application that students who already know and understand little will be able to grasp, let alone be interested in. |
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2012-07-30, 16:52 | Link #22717 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
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I've known teachers my whole life. If they had the time and were not teaching based on the STAR or SAT tests, they would rather find those different ways to teach students. But because they are basically getting their hands tied by the state as to what they will teach and little help from parents, teachers are furstrated these days. (by 2000 they were told to turn in their coursebook for what they students would learn that year. Not what they would teach, what the students would learn. The arguement is that you can't force a high school student to learn. Especially the ones that don't want to be there at all. This among other reason was why my mother retired). You can only teach and hope they learn. Especially if you are teaching to tests.
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2012-07-30, 17:02 | Link #22718 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Even if you have time for more, you'll just bore or confuse the students. So, yeah. Teach and hope they learn. |
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2012-07-30, 17:16 | Link #22719 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Russia signs tougher adoption deal with U.S.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...86T15320120730 China-focused fund manager settles with SEC http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...86T0UY20120730
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2012-07-30, 17:27 | Link #22720 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
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Most students learn by one of three ways. Visual, Audio, or Physical. Or a mixture of these. Some learn by seeing. Some learn by hearing what something is, and some only learn by doing or feeling.
If all the teacher does is present something and expect you to learn it, they aren't going everything possible, as some can't learn that way. The trouble with mathmatics is that some people can't learn it properly because they require a phyical means to understand it and usually that is not presented with something like algebra. Similarly you can't teach History to everyone by just reading about it. Sometimes you need to present something physical for the students to grasp if the subject is important or not. Or use analogies and stories to show off particular individuals in history, or events. I had one professor that liked the social aspects of history...the average people of the time, rather than the political or military figures and major events. I was bored in her classes because I generally did not care what a mid-18th century French family did every day before the Revolution. But still sometimes she made it interesting. I prefered the professor that talked at length about Theodore Roosevelt, as those talks tended to be exciting and sometimes larger than life. Science clasess work best when you can get either hands on experiance or can observe things happens, rather that just read about things or study formulas. So mathmatics needs something observable or tangible to get the point across to some people.
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current affairs, discussion, international |
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