tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post6861467337675679592..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Oh Why Can't My Kids Count?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-25262316672969950702013-11-25T10:54:24.912-05:002013-11-25T10:54:24.912-05:00What I've taken to do doing in my online grade...What I've taken to do doing in my online grade sheet is to simply calculate their expected grade, extrapolating numbers from previous tests and assignments onto likely future performance. I find that this predicts students's grades plus-or-minus about 5%, which means only a small fraction of students will change by more than a half-letter-grade. <br /><br />Heartbreakingly, this turns Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11045844930534188792013-11-24T20:16:08.736-05:002013-11-24T20:16:08.736-05:00I feel your pain, Kimmie. I have students who can...I feel your pain, Kimmie. I have students who cannot understand that it is mathematically impossible to go from an F to an A in two weeks of class ... and these students are in a STEM major. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03125007135941146815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-77519826233607140272013-11-24T13:28:24.605-05:002013-11-24T13:28:24.605-05:00That's not even math: it's basic second-gr...That's not even math: it's basic second-grade arithmetic, right? I'm unable to do "math," but basic counting? We are so fucked when these kids get jobs.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6135758820339152322013-11-24T12:20:49.166-05:002013-11-24T12:20:49.166-05:00You weren't giving her the answer she wanted. ...You weren't giving her the answer she wanted. She was re-asking the same thing in different ways in order for you to give her the "right" answer.CrayonEaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10126396989880932207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-16983543892546490232013-11-24T12:00:31.798-05:002013-11-24T12:00:31.798-05:00"It's quite foreign to them that math is ..."It's quite foreign to them that math is a way to describe relationships among real world entities." (Rand/orG) That's exactly right. It's common sense (or visual intuition) made precise, nothing else. And to produce (and convey) logical reasoning precisely, you need to learn how to use symbols correctly. Don't they learn that in high school?<br /><br />And yet if I werePeter Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754472537710161295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-17948355041663949322013-11-24T06:57:04.564-05:002013-11-24T06:57:04.564-05:00''students do not understand arithmetic as...''students do not understand arithmetic as relationships between numbers....they can't cope with symbolic manipulations"<br /><br />That's definitely something I've noticed for some time now. If you give them an equation like PV = nRT, and ask them what happens when the Temperature (T) goes up, they can't see that the Pressure or Volume are going to go up. Without Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64232324214078168582013-11-23T17:02:37.271-05:002013-11-23T17:02:37.271-05:00This explains why it's so difficult to teach t...This explains why it's so difficult to teach the concept of significant figures. I have just about given up with my general-ed, intro-to-astronomy-for-non-majors students. Even pointing out how fractions of a cent aren't counted draws a blank. <br /><br />Worse, though, is how often graduate students in physics don't understand significant figures. Traditionally, significant figures Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-24314644770942676442013-11-23T15:33:29.568-05:002013-11-23T15:33:29.568-05:002+3 = 5+2 = 7. Neither 7 nor 5+2 are actually equa...<i> 2+3 = 5+2 = 7. Neither 7 nor 5+2 are actually equal to 2+3 </i><br /><br />I first encountered this in the mid 1990s when I was tutoring a family friend's daughter. When I explained what was wrong with it, she got it. <br /><br />But she kept doing it if I wasn't in the room because she was just writing down what she said as she worked through the problem and this had become a habit.<Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72930106287968749712013-11-23T12:31:53.457-05:002013-11-23T12:31:53.457-05:00BURN THE HILL OF CALCULATORS!!BURN THE HILL OF CALCULATORS!!Strelnikovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660962615198939441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-18612233029667322412013-11-23T10:27:24.271-05:002013-11-23T10:27:24.271-05:00I know why they can't count. The educational ...I know why they can't count. The educational fad lately in elementary math education is discovery-based learning, where you do exercises like count little boxes that you arrange into squares and whatnot. And after you've "discovered" the conceptual basis of arithmetic they hand you a calculator in about first-grade now.<br /><br />The result is that students do not understand Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08119100121479821544noreply@blogger.com