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RESiNATE
10-01-2004, 04:41 AM
Hopefully this will be a thing that will happen on a weekly basis, as the title suggests. I will have a general whinge (also aptly pointed out in the title) about something important - generally on a 'state of the world' kinda theme.
And debate is invited, of course.

This week, I'd like to talk about the state of education - specifically maths.
I have talked to people before about learning maths at school, and have always been met with the same dispondency at the whole point of it all. And therein lies the problem.
If maths was made more interesting, then kids would be more willing to learn.
How often do you hear kids complaining about English lessons?
Not often.
It is because English deals with stuff that we use every day of our lives; words, letters, speech, writing. We read a book, it's exciting - we learn how to interpret what the author is trying to convey, and think about how those feelings affect our lives.
But how often have you had to use a bit of trigonometry whilst doing the shopping?
What about quadratic equations?
Huh?

It's about then that the child switches off and starts day-dreaming.
We've all done it.

We should make maths more interesting by using everyday examples to illustrate the importance of the subject. Add a 'wow' factor to it, if you like.
For instance:
When you get out of a car, you are exerting about 7tons of pressure on your knee joints.
Any kid would say 'wow' at that. Instant attention grabber(?)
Then go on to explain the maths involved that tells us that fact.

I've said it before, maths rules everything about us - we are all subject to its laws and restrictions - the more we understand, the better we become.

The simple act of throwing a ball and catching it - the mathematics involved are astronomical. But if you can add and subtract, you should be able to work it out (eventually lmao), but I fear that kids are sooo turned off by maths, that they can't even perform basic sums. When I was at school, we weren't allowed calculators in the lesson, lett alone in the exam! Geez, all my stuff was worked out on paper - long-hand lol (my exam papers were handed in as 'see attached sheets' lol).

Education on the whole, is in a sorry state, and this is our future generations, the heirs to the planet, who can bearly string two eligible words together and struggle to work out the change from £1 when they've just spent 82p!

(that's 18p, just in case (100p - 82p = 18p) lol)

Or am I wrong?

Res...

sToNeDpEnGuIn420
10-01-2004, 04:47 AM
dud eur carzy but ya i hate math im so high and trying to do math is just dumb english rocks go juilis caesar!!haha he died *stab stab stab*

RESiNATE
10-01-2004, 04:54 AM
Yes, but one day you'll love maths and wish you spent more time learning it at school lol

They just don't make it interesting enough.
What is the point of trigonometry, unless you are an engineer/architech?
...
...
I had this great thing I was gonna say, and it has completely left my head!
...
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No, it's gone lmao

So mark my words, init lol - *wags finger*

Pass The Rizla
10-01-2004, 09:03 PM
sorry to be a party pooper but Maths sure do suck.

RESiNATE
10-01-2004, 10:15 PM
Ahhh, you say that now, but without maths there would be no computers, no playstations, no dope...

well, there might still be dope, but how are ya gonna know that you got a decent deal?

How would you convert metric grams to imperial ounces? A very essential mathematical equation lol

Imotep
10-02-2004, 03:20 AM
I always had a problem with things being taught the long old way. im all for basic maths etc, its important to know the foundations. but when it comes to a lot of things, they are overtaught to the point industry and trade bosses laugh a lot of the time.
speaking for my own field, at horticultural college, we were taught irrigation scheduling. now the maths we were given had the teacher, who mind you had watered massive golf courses all his life very accurately, more confused than us.
I asked him if ever in his 30plus years of experience he had ever seen it done this way, anywhere in the world.
No.
Then why were we being taught things that werent relevant to the industries we were being trained to enter?

GHoSToKeR
10-02-2004, 04:27 AM
Res I agree, Maths was always my best subject in school.. When I moved school I found that my maths teacher was completely incompetant, he should have been teaching P.E. or Religious Studies lol

So anyway, I used to get kicked out of his maths class alot for correcting his mistakes or not wanting to do a certain exercise or what-not because it was pointless, or I didn't see the point in learning it the hard way/long way/useless way.. But, at the end of the day, they're the ones that decide what they teach, not us..

RESiNATE
10-02-2004, 06:43 AM
Then why were we being taught things that werent relevant to the industries we were being trained to enter?

Exactly, it's the same with physics.
They should have exams in shelf-stacking, and till-operation, because they seem to be the growing industries lol

The education system seems to be a complete farce.
They spend too much time on stuff that doesn't apply to everyday life (quadratics,Hook's Law), and not enough on stuff that matters (basic maths,good english).
I've got 27 different qualifications, ranging from CSE to A'Level and diplomas, but ya know what - I drive a truck lol, which means I can work out how tired I'm gonna be at the end of the week, to 23 decimal places!

Res...