I regularly use what I learned in statistics classes, but not any other form of math.But since I'm not a civil engineer, I've never been asked this question since I left school.
Just curious does anyone else use this in day to day to day life?
You are so right. This, along with Rote Learning that,even many years ago, Richard Feynman was severely criticising certain education systems around the world. However, there are rules that need to be understood and memorised in Math, Science and Engineering, as long as the fundamentals behind them are understood.The way we teach math and science in school is so dry and boring, which is why fewer girls are choosing to study in those fields. We're too obsessed with having kids get the right answer instead of truly understanding what they are actually doing.
doesn't matter, you have a vague idea of how it can be done, and it introduced you - back then - to another way of thinking about it. It may come to show you your client is innoccentBut since I'm not a civil engineer, I've never been asked this question since I left school.
Just curious does anyone else use this in day to day to day life?
It's not dry and boring to the kids who like it enough to want to work to understand it, and do well in it.The way we teach math and science in school is so dry and boring, which is why fewer girls are choosing to study in those fields.
I didn't say that we should try to make math, science or engineering glamorous or sexy. The video also did not say anything to that effect. But I do believe that having students memorize arbitrary rules is counterproductive and is likely the cause of students being disengaged. Fields in science, engineering, software, etc. are a whole lot more than memorizing a bunch of equations or rules. Besides, the benefit of studying mathematics, science and technology is to develop critical, abstract and creative thinking and we desperately need more of those people in this day and age since the pace of change is so quick. I also believe that people need to be taught to think out of the box and break and bend rules.It's not dry and boring to the kids who like it enough to want to work to understand it, and do well in it.
Math and science and engineering are all about understanding the differential equations that model the world. We must not lie to kids who find no interest in those equations. We must not cajole them into math/ science/ engineering if they have no interest in differential equations.
We don't do kids any favours (whether they're girls or not) if we glamorize math and science, and if we gloss over the "dry and boring" things in order to "get them interested". What if we actually succeed in persuading an 18yo girl to study engineering at university, by pretending that it's not all about equations and calculus? We are condemning her to disappointment and frustration -- not to mention wasting her life.
If you need science and engineering to be glamorous before you can work up an enthusiasm for it, you will never do well at it, and you'll never find fulfilment in it.
Leave it to the kids who were intensely interested in your "dry and boring" subjects .
in High Sschool i failed physics because teachers want kids to memorize formulas to to calculations. here in Canada they allow to write formulas on "cheat sheets"I didn't say that we should try to make math, science or engineering glamorous or sexy. The video also did not say anything to that effect. But I do believe that having students memorize arbitrary rules is counterproductive and is likely the cause of students being disengaged. Fields in science, engineering, software, etc. are a whole lot more than memorizing a bunch of equations or rules. Besides, the benefit of studying mathematics, science and technology is to develop critical, abstract and creative thinking and we desperately need more of those people in this day and age since the pace of change is so quick. I also believe that people need to be taught to think out of the box and break and bend rules.
Exactly. There is little to no value in memorizing formulas because that's what computers are for. There is much more value in teaching kids to think critically about how they come up with a particular answer and if it makes sense.in High Sschool i failed physics because teachers want kids to memorize formulas to to calculations. here in Canada they allow to write formulas on "cheat sheets"
Yes, because understanding the formula is more important. That said, if you don't memorize the formula, you'll rarely use it outside of school. Most people say math is useless outside school simply because they can't grasp where it'd be useful and when it would be an effective time to use it.in High Sschool i failed physics because teachers want kids to memorize formulas to to calculations. here in Canada they allow to write formulas on "cheat sheets"
As alluded to above, many careers simply don't use anything above arithmetic.Yes, because understanding the formula is more important. That said, if you don't memorize the formula, you'll rarely use it outside of school. Most people say math is useless outside school simply because they can't grasp where it'd be useful and when it would be an effective time to use it.
What they need to learn is anything but arbitrary. The relationship of the sides of right triangle is a universal truth. The kinetic energy of an object is always half the mass times the square of the velocity. Etc etc etc.But I do believe that having students memorize arbitrary rules is counterproductive and is likely the cause of students being disengaged.
Exactly, these 'rules' are anything but arbitrary; they are the descriptions of unchanging, fundamental truths of the universe.What they need to learn is anything but arbitrary. The relationship of the sides of right triangle is a universal truth. The kinetic energy of an object is always half the mass times the square of the velocity. Etc etc etc.
Ideally what we want our kids to do is what Cap'n Kirk did upthread -- be able to look at any shape, say "hey, this is just a collection of smaller shapes that I know how to calculate the area of". But they need to have some of the fundamentals in their brain in order to do that.
Trust you sophisticated gentleman to come up with an icebreaker that I can use with the next hottie I encounter at the bar ! :encouragement:Finding the area of a regular pentagon