Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Pattsi Petrie <pattsi2 AT gmail.com>]

Just a macro thought--is not the educational goal is to teach people how to think logically? If my assumption has merit, then that is a missing ingredient in Hacker's book. And I might be very tempted to argue that these courses in math are secondary to accomplish logic thinking compared to philosophy and logic.

And from where I presently sit in my community role, there is a massive lack of the ability to think and argue logically.

Just an aside--I used Hacker's boo, Two Nations: Black and White, in social planning class for years.

P2

On Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 9:59 AM, Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for sharing that video, George - interesting comparison between Latin and Algebra. :)

How do we determine what people need? How do you balance that against what they want?

On Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 8:45 AM, Reese, George Clifford <reese AT illinois.edu> wrote:

This one is really making the rounds quickly. As did Hacker’s NYTimes editorial of a few years ago.

Peter Braunfeld, who I’m told is cited in Hacker’s book (I’m getting a copy), did a talk on Hacker’s editorial a couple years ago for us at MSTE.

https://goo.gl/oSA147

 

My own opinion is that a thoughtful reconsideration of the entire high school mathematics sequence is required.
Algebra, Statistics, and Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics makes much more sense for most students than the current sequence which is mostly a preparation for calculus that few people need to be productive, mathematically literate citizens.

 

George

 

From: ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu [mailto:ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu] On Behalf Of Charles Schultz
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2016 8:08 AM
To: ctrl-shift AT lists.mste.illinois.edu
Subject: [Ctrl-Shift] Looking for a professional opinion: "Down with Algebra II"

 

Good morning,

 

I am hoping to solicit professional opinions from practioners, educators and researchers. Having climbed (and struggled) through 4 years of college math classes that I have never ever used at all, what are the pros and cons of replacing the theory-heavy math classes with something a bit more practical, with an eye towards training democratic (lower case 'd') citizens?

 

re: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2016/03/algebra_ii_has_to_go.single.html

 

The author of the article, Dana Goldstein, is speaking mostly about Andrew Hacker's "The Math Myth", but also balances it out with a couple other opinions/theories as well. The ideas put forth by Ms. Goldstein resonated with my own experiences, so I am seeking other perspectives.

 

--

Charles Schultz

--

Charles Schultz

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Pattsi Petrie, PhD, FAICP
P2 Consulting
Champaign County Board, Chair , district 6,
Retired, Department of Urban and Regional Planning/DURP
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/UIUC
<mailto:pattsi AT uiuc.edu>

College of Fellows, American Institute of Certified Planners

Professional Education and Outreach Programs
Past Chair APA Planning Women Division