Euclid-style geometry could probably be compressed or skipped entirely without much loss. It’s got some interesting stuff, and it’s the only introduction most people will ever have to mathematical proofs, but I think the emphasis on geometry in the curriculum is largely an accident of history. I would be in favor of replacing that with basic statistics.
Although, considering how breathtakingly messed up the bulk of math instruction is, this discussion feels like redecorating the staterooms in the Titanic. Find a typical high school senior and ask them a question about basic geometry, or to solve a system of two simple linear equations, or to figure out the height of a tall building using a measuring tape and some angle measuring device and a calculator. These are all skills they will have learned at one point, and they will probably have completely forgotten. If indeed they ever truly understood any of it.
If there’s a way to teach math better, we could probably get big gains there. I don’t know how, though.
I’m not intimately familiar with the standard math curriculum, so I don’t want to guess at what could be replaced without losing too much.
Euclid-style geometry could probably be compressed or skipped entirely without much loss. It’s got some interesting stuff, and it’s the only introduction most people will ever have to mathematical proofs, but I think the emphasis on geometry in the curriculum is largely an accident of history. I would be in favor of replacing that with basic statistics.
Although, considering how breathtakingly messed up the bulk of math instruction is, this discussion feels like redecorating the staterooms in the Titanic. Find a typical high school senior and ask them a question about basic geometry, or to solve a system of two simple linear equations, or to figure out the height of a tall building using a measuring tape and some angle measuring device and a calculator. These are all skills they will have learned at one point, and they will probably have completely forgotten. If indeed they ever truly understood any of it.
If there’s a way to teach math better, we could probably get big gains there. I don’t know how, though.