OT - Sparty drops algebra
That's it. That's the post.
In light of the recent "to football factory or not" discussion this seems relevant and maybe worth a joke or two.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/06/michigan-state-drops-college-algebra-requirement.
January 2nd, 2020 at 8:03 PM ^
Old news but it will never get “old”
A quantitative literacy course they say? Maybe an updated picture book asking them to count the green jerseys on the field.
January 2nd, 2020 at 8:30 PM ^
In other news, the Gator Bowl has dropped good football as a requirement...
January 2nd, 2020 at 8:31 PM ^
2020 - 2016 = 4
January 2nd, 2020 at 8:35 PM ^
True in the normal world, but in East Lansing...
2020 - 2016 = 12
January 2nd, 2020 at 10:28 PM ^
I remember when this toy was released!
January 2nd, 2020 at 9:07 PM ^
Maybe my memory is failing me, but I'm pretty sure you can get a Michigan degree with a single quantitative reasoning course.
January 2nd, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
I graduated U of M in ‘83 without taking any math classes. Requirement was math or logic, so I took a Philosophy course.
January 2nd, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^
January 2nd, 2020 at 9:46 PM ^
Because the foundational idea behind going to a university was to become well rounded in all facets of higher education / a renaissance man. But universities today have become vocational job training centers because corporations refuse to even read your resume unless you have a degree. So, for what modern degrees are purported for, no, algebra isn’t necessary and often just a waste of time. It’s only value is if you A) are going into mathematics or engineering in some fashion, or B) you truly want to be a renaissance man in the classical definition...which almost no one is anymore these days.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
Yes, but riddle the Staee graduate this. If C = general competence and A and B are as you defined above, but A is also assumed to be a dummy variable with a value of zero since Moo U don’t play numbers, then what coefficient / proportion of emphasis should be placed on B to assure that an MSU grad possesses enough C in order to make proper change in the unlikely, but still possible circumstance, where a customer decides to pay cash for the pizza?
January 2nd, 2020 at 11:43 PM ^
The only people that say algebra is useless are the people that can't do algebra. I probably use algebra as much or more often than anything else I learned in school.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:39 AM ^
January 2nd, 2020 at 9:43 PM ^
Honestly, this isn't a bad idea. I'm a software engineer and took a ton of math courses while in college; I can safely say that I don't use a ton of what I learned from it and am still pretty good at my job. Obviously it helps that I can read a description of how an algorithm functions and tease out the technical elements, but most people would be fine understanding actual, real-world examples of mathematical concepts in their lives.
Now, when MSU or OSU start offering this type of course online so as not to stress any football out too much, I'm there for the jokes.
January 2nd, 2020 at 10:11 PM ^
So much wrong with the comments in here.
Algebra just isn't used for sciences or engineering.
Algebra in the real word used in accounting, finance, construction, project management, business docs -- like cost comparisons for example... good Lord I could go on.
Nobody bitching about "online u", academics, etc., for why Michigan cannot win football games should be saying getting rid of Algebra 101 as part of a well-rounded education is a good move.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:24 AM ^
I agree that it under pins all of those things, however to the average person who doesn't go into those things algebra as a building block is useless.
Teach real world math. Teach personal finance, teach home improvement math, whatever it may be, teach people how they need to use math on an every day basis.
I say this as someone who took far to many math classes at UofM and does not use them in the least despite being in a numbers based industry.
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
We're probably pretty aligned on this... I read your take to illustrate the education system is broken. I completely agree. But dummying it down is not the solution IMHO.
January 3rd, 2020 at 1:42 PM ^
yeah thats fair, I do think we are aligned. As I noted in my other post this I think aligns them more with where Michigan is. If you are in LS&A and are going for a BA in something that doesn't have a math background, your math requirements are super low and quite possibly could have people graduating without doing anything more than basic addition.... which yes I think points to educational system broken
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:06 AM ^
MSU beat Ill by 20 last night. Does UM have a chance without Livers. No.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:25 AM ^
Kieth Jackson death - MSU math death = 2
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:34 AM ^
What's worrying is that people are allowed to leave high school w/o basic alegbra. But then no one is failed out anymore, either. So the HS diploma doesn't mean anything.
In a world where technology is king, it's more important math is taught. not less.
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
A HS diploma is a certificate of attendance. Has been for a while. But one better have one.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:39 AM ^
Wouldnt the assumption be that higher math is now the baseline?
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
Everyone who is saying that they don’t use algebra is missing the point completely. Math education, particularly algebra, isn’t primarily about the numbers and the answers to the problems. It’s about thinking critically, logically, and applying problem solving to generalized problems. You may not need to remember exactly how to solve simultaneous equations, but the methods and practice thinking through the issues are applied on a daily basis. It helps with tons of things, from assembling your IKEA furniture to going to court. I can’t believe how many people don’t understand this.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:39 AM ^
Dropped*
This article is from 2016 -- AKA Pre-Nassar. They've actually dropped their entire math requirement since.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:57 AM ^
No, they have not dropped the entire math requirement.
This allows a certain portions of students to proceed towards non technical degrees.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^
I discovered that the two subjects that probably had the greatest positive effect for me over the long-term were Calculus and Latin. Not that either of them (or most subjects) are 'needed' IRL; but how they exercise the mind in getting it to understand and deal with complexities in a systematic way seems like a crucial skill in life in dealing with whatever facts and knowledge you need later.
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
I enjoyed algebra in high school, and found it very useful when I studied logic in university.
Of course logic is viewed with suspicion in many quarters. And not just recently.
January 4th, 2020 at 4:07 PM ^
I took 0 math classes at Michigan and they still gave me a diploma. Closest I came were stats and Econ.
I also didn’t take any hard sciences. Two biological anthropology courses satisfied the NS requirement when I was in school.
Point is that it’s hard to evaluate curricula from the outside