Re: Is this math test too easy?

From: wind (anon_at_anon.com)
Date: 11/22/04 

Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:08:56 -0500

"Saint Cad" <saintcad@emailblackhole.com> wrote in message
news:p5bod.1683$6m2.946@trnddc04...
>
> "William Booth" <boothwe@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> news:ng7od.37300$jE2.36836@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
> >
> > "Stan Brown" <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote in message
> > news:MPG.1c0aba6cfa02df0298cda1@news.odyssey.net...
> >> "wind" wrote in sci.math:
> >> >If you want to be taught algebra, then get the top algebra
> >> >teachers/researchers and pay them to produce some video/internet
tapes.
> >> >That means you don't have to pay for all the teachers around the
> >> >country.
> >>
> >> The problem with that is that VERY few students learn without
> >> personalized feedback.
> >>
> >> I've learned the hard way in my classes that most students are not
> >> able to look at a prepared solution, compare it to their own, and
> >> determine correctly whether the two are equivalent. To me this is
> >> the justification for marking papers: even a bright and dedicated
> >> student needs that personalized feedback.
> >
> > If your theory is correct, then why do so few students excel in math and
> > the
> > sciences at the high school level? Certainly, if the teacher was doing
so
> > much feedback, there would be Einsteins in every school. The problem is
> > with the teacher and with the system. The teachers are not qualified to
> > teach, and the way the system is set up, students are not allowed to
think
> > about the subject, since they have several, unrelated subjects spewed at
> > them all day long.
>
> What do you base that statement on? What is your definition of qualified
> and what statistics do you have to back up your claim?

I don't need statistics. I base my statement on my experience and having
read others, who agree with me.
>
> Would you require teachers to have a master's degree in math and a full
> credential before they can teach? If so, then you should know that that
is
> the new requirements under No Child Left Behind.

Doesn't matter. To learn math effectively, you have to go at it alone, and
spend hours a day. I don't care who the teacher is. Could be the best in
the world. You have to read my post above where I said you can have video
or internet teachers, and students get to learn from them (or on their own
if they choose) and then can spend as many hours in the day learning from
that one class. Students get to learn at their own pace. Nobody tells a
student they have to learn this or that. It helps to have somebody
qualified, because then they can point to certain books and guide the
student. Once again, having teachers is an inefficient task in every
school. You only need the best ones, and they make the videos (you can
make your own and put it on the net if you think it will be viewed...getting
paid for it is a different matter). That way, the teachers can go on and
become researchers or do activities in real-life that people need them in,
like engineering, computers, etc. And frankly, I don't think the
traditional teacher is going to survive even if my thing is not put into
place. Students who want to learn will be homeschooled, and they have
plenty of guidance from people like sci.math. Buying the books is a
different matter, and the books are not there in most public schools anyway.
We're gonna need to have books put out there on the net.
>
>

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