this is when science didn't have to have any specific purpose

[rex_dart]

Is Algebra Necessary?A TYPICAL American school day finds some six million high school students and two million college freshmen struggling with algebra. In both high school and college, all too many students are expected to fail. Why do we subject American students to this ordeal? I’ve found myself moving toward the strong view that we shouldn’t

Comments

[layweed]

I'm so confused by the subject line, I don't know how to proceed. Maybe if it were calculus...but even learning calculus is necessary to me..

[layweed]

I wish I had taken more math in college myself. My college and BS didn't allow for minors (unlike other colleges in the university, Idk) and the best I'll ever be able to say is, "I took X math credits", which kinda sucks. I wish I had the opportunity to take more fundamental subjects like group theory and number theory

[karrixftw]

As far as the proofs for triangles, I think you're talking about Geometry (which was my favorite type of math, but as far as real life application goes, I don't think it was the most useful, imo.).

[xerox78]

I wish I had taken more math when I was younger. It should stay in HS and first year college, because no one knows what they're going to be or might change their mind. Heck, I did. Only now did I finally find my calling and going to what I can to make it happen.

Same here. Math used to frustrate me to tears, then it got a bit easier, then one day it just clicked.

Well if they were to get rid of anything, they should get rid of proofing of triangles. Even my dad with his PHD, says it's unnecessary.

Okay?! I could never get the hang of those stupid things. They didn't make a lick of sense to me and I've never ever seen them used anywhere else, including other math classes. And I'm an engineering major.

[ebay313]

no one knows what they're going to be or might change their mind

Definitely this. Middle school to early high school I wanted to major in Art when I went to college. By late high school I changed my mind and wanted to do religious studies. Neither subjects that were math heavy. Early college I changed my major to social work, which for the most part isn't math heavy either. Wasn't until partway through my Master's program that I started to think about going into research, which is what I'd like to do now, and that does require knowing a certain amount of math. I can't imagine if I had been told back at the high school level that math was not important for me because I wasn't looking to go into a math field at that time.