Last week I purchased a burger and fries at McDonalds for $3.58.
The counter girl took my $4.00 and I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.
Why do I tell you this? Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s...........
Teaching Math In 1950 A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
Teaching Math In 1960 A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
Teaching Math In 1970 A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
Teaching Math In 1980 A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
Teaching Math In 1990 A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)
Teaching Math In 2006 Un ranchero vende una carretera de maderapara $100. El cuesto de la produccion era $80. Cuantos tortillas se puede comprar?
Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
She cried? She cried?
The rest of it I've heard before. Still worth a chuckle though.
Except now I feel kind of guilty- my aunt who was like a second mother to me taught math for over 20 years. She was good too (trust me- when I didn't understand my homework- it was to the phone I went)
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You know, this could have been funny, except: 1) You shouldn't lie about the crying. It adds no real pathos. 2) The anti-PC and anti-immigration undertones of the last few items really undercut the point, and add a certain odiousness to the tone of the joke.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
I like the version which has New Math in it :
1975 (New Math): A logger exchanges a set L of lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100 and each element is worth $1.
(a) make 100 dots representing the elements of the set M (b) The set C representing costs of production contains 20 fewer points than set M. Represent the set C as a subset of the set M. (c) What is the cardinality of the set P of profits?
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
quote: Teaching Math In 1990 A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)
You're forgeting the many possible wrong answers . Something like "squirrels don't really have feelings" would be a detention, neh?
Anyways, on a related note, I was recently studying calculus. The book had pictures of famous mathematicians to inspirie us.
I was somewhat inspired by Euler. Leibniz...one of my favorite people, ever . Isaac Newton? Meh. Fermat? Well, I don't think he REALLY had a proof for his cube theory, but I like him none the less. Shirley Jackson made me go huh, but I decided that her achivements are also inspirational. Now Marjorie Lee Browne... what did she do? Hmm... she succeeded in obtaining grants for teachers. Interesting. Definitely a big moment in math history.
Biggest and most motivating character? Daniel James, Jr. What did this man do to stand next to Leibniz, Newton, Fermat?
He was a fighter in the US air force.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by 4 8 15 16 23 42: Teaching Math In 2006 Un ranchero vende una carretera de maderapara $100. El cuesto de la produccion era $80. Cuantos tortillas se puede comprar?
Ummm.... Because all them hispanics eat tortillas....that's not racist Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
I've personally found that teachers make the biggest difference in what kind of math is learned. This could be due to a lack of necessary coordination from he higher ups a whole lot of unnecessary contribution from them. They don't concentrate on serious skills necessary to learn math early enough, instead in the lower grades it's all kinds of test programs to see how different students react and emphasis on real world application. Leaving the children without the skills necessary to move on to higher mathematics without wasting time going over things they should have learned years ago.
When you get a teacher that knows what matters and does their best to ensure the kids get what they need for the future of their math careers, it works great. However occasionally you'll end up with someone who sticks to the curriculum without worrying about what really needs to be taught, with disastrous consequences.
Posted by cheiros do ender (Member # 8849) on :
Lol. Do you have Outcomes Based Maths there? They're rying to bring that in here. Lucky I got out while the going was stll... kinda... good.
Anyway, second last Maths teachers I had were great. Two to teach two different 11th grade highest level maths to prepare us for 12th grade Calculus. They never used the curriculum books, and we learnt in just 6 weeks what took the kids in the next-level-down maths all year.
Man I sound like a boaster! But I loves me Maths Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: You know, this could have been funny, except: 1) You shouldn't lie about the crying. It adds no real pathos. 2) The anti-PC and anti-immigration undertones of the last few items really undercut the point, and add a certain odiousness to the tone of the joke.
My thoughts exactly.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
I just love Tom Lehrer songs.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I think the main reason that math is so bad before college is that people who are good in math can usually get a better job than being a teacher in a public school. I applaud those of you who are so dedicated as to do this. It's not an easy or usually very pleasant job.
In the past, there were a lot of smart women who had few opportunities other than teaching. So you would get many people who were great at math who were teachers for a living. Now those women have other opportunities, for higher pay, and more control over their working environment. So, quite frankly, most elementary, middle school, and even high school math teachers dislike math themselves, aren't good at it, and don't have any ability to teach it.
Obviously, our hatrack teachers are the rare exceptions. Their students are very lucky.
I was lucky in that I had 2 good math teachers growing up (by some fluke) and my dad was majoring in math when I was around 10 - 12 so I helped him learn his formulas and things, and then I would talk to him about it and ask him what it was about. So I got exposed to college math young.
But I can't say I ever had a math teacher who loved their subject until I got to college. It's really bad how that is here in the states. It seems to work to make almost everyone grow up hating math. That's such a shame, since it's such an utterly cool subject.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
As an aside, I find it slightly ironic that a thread complaining about the quality of math education is missing a capital and an apostrophe in the title. Seems someone didn't pay attention in English.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
People keep forgetting that in 1950 a high school diploma was about as optional as a bachelor's degree is today. If students couldn't keep up with the math, they were simply told to get vocational training, because they weren't academically inclined. Or they just dropped out and got a job. In intervening years, society has adopted the "no child left behind" mentality, that all children should be treated like little cookie cutter students, and even mentally retarded children need to test "at grade level" in order for the school to be rated "acceptable."
The truth is that today, the top students receive higher training in math than anyone did in the fifties and sixties (same with physics and chemistry). The only difference is that we keep trying to pound math into students that either aren't capable, or aren't interested.
As to the scenarios listed above::
(Late 1940's) A war profiteer sells a truckoad of lumber back to the government that allowed him to cut in public forests ...
(1950's) A communist sympathizer sells a truckload of lumber...
(1960's) A draft dodger sells a truckload of surplus khakis...
(1970's) A drug dealer sells a kilo of marijuana...
(1980's) Ivan Boesky sells 100,000,000 shares of stock he doesn't own....
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
quote:Mathematical mishaps will see a number of Phillips Middle School eighth-graders return to the books next Monday, in what district officials deem an “open and honest” response to a problem that’s prompted anger from some parents.
In a letter sent to the families of affected students, Phillips Principal Gary Reiners acknowledged that algebra students “may not have covered essential material to be prepared for the next sequence of math.” He also noted that other students did not comprehend the material “as well as they should have.”
As a result, a series of “help sessions” will commence next Monday and continue three days a week through “at least the end of July,” Reiners wrote.
“I know that most students aren’t thrilled about coming back to school, but the concepts of chapters 9, 10, 11 and 12 are the basis for Algebra II,” the principal wrote.
This is my school district - the school where my daughter will be going to 8th grade this coming year.
Posted by sarfa (Member # 579) on :
Realize that the ability to teach math well is not that closely related to being an expert in math. Some of my worst professors in grad school were brilliant mathematicians, and most of high school math does not require a very large depth of mathematical knowledge (though obviously some level of proficiencey is required in order teach.)
That being said, if you start paying teachers more money, maybe you'd start attracting more competent ones (like lots more money....I do have a dream of bathing in gold doubloons, and this will never happen at my current salary).
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
I've had that joke emailed to me before. I agree that the bit about the McDonald's worker doesn't add much. However, I think it's clever how the joke shifts from being just about bad math teaching to also being about more ominous trends in American society. It sneaks up on you, in a similar manner to that Simpsons couch opening that starts out showing the family getting older as the years pass and then suddenly ends with them all replaced by robots. 2006 is probably too early for the last date, though, since Spanish isn't currently co-equal with English in America. It should be 2050 or something.
So what does the Spanish line actually say?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:So what does the Spanish line actually say?
You wouldn't believe me if I told you.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Here is the babelfish translation:
quote:A mess orderly sells a highway of maderapara $100. The hill of the production was $80. Whichever tortillas can be bought?
Obviously it leaves a lot to be desired. You might be able to get the drift, however.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
quote:Un ranchero vende una carretera de maderapara $100. El cuesto de la produccion era $80. Cuantos tortillas se puede comprar?
"A farmer sells a cart load of wood for $100. The cost of production was $60. How many tortillas can be purchased?"
a poor joke at best: and a poor reflection on the joker! At the very least, cart was misspelled and wood and for were run on with a typographical error. A gerund was not used for "cost". And there is a syntax error; the gender does not agree between "how many" and "tortillas". Babelfish hasn't a chance with actual babel.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Phanto: Fermat? Well, I don't think he REALLY had a proof for his cube theory, but I like him none the less.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
. Something like "squirrels don't really have feelings" would be a detention, neh?![[Smile]](smile.gif)
. Isaac Newton? Meh. Fermat? Well, I don't think he REALLY had a proof for his cube theory, but I like him none the less. Shirley Jackson made me go huh, but I decided that her achivements are also inspirational. Now Marjorie Lee Browne... what did she do? Hmm... she succeeded in obtaining grants for teachers. Interesting. Definitely a big moment in math history.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)