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Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by jjoonathan on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:03PM (#29433795)
Agreed. Personally I think we should swap our high school curriculum:

    Geometry -> Proofy Linear Algebra
    Trig     -> Computational Linear Algebra
I think the heydey of Trig was in the age of navigation and the heydey of Geometry was in the age of machines. Meanwhile, today, linear algebra has supplanted both of them, runs the world besides, and it seems to only be getting started.
Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by BeetleB on Friday December 03, 2021 @03:03PM (#29434591)
> I think the heydey of Trig was in the age of navigation and the heydey of Geometry was in the age of machines.

Sorry, but this is crazy. If you're in physics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or civil engineering[1], then trigonometry appears in so many problems - including ones that have little to do with triangles and geometry.

Calc II is heavy on trigonometry for a good reason. So many integrals that show up in the "real world" are solvable if you know your trig identities. These show up in semiconductor theory, mechanics, electromagnetics, quantum mechanics, etc.

Trig is the one thing I'm glad I was taught well in high school. Used it all the time for over a decade.

[1] And probably many other disciplines.

Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by kevin_thibedeau on Friday December 03, 2021 @04:44PM (#29435995)
Trigonometry has little to do with triangles. It's more appropriately titled circleometry.
Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by andrewprock on Saturday December 04, 2021 @04:46PM (#29444582)
That's a clever insight. Though the measurement of circles is done using triangles, so maybe there is an even cleverer more Germanic name? Circulotrigometry.
Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by monocasa on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:09PM (#29433888)
Rather than geometry or linear algebra, I'd love to see logic and set theory taught that early as more than a passing topic.
Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by lstodd on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:16PM (#29433995)
Can only up this. Not teaching set theory is just an abomination. And logic. That year of Prolog taught me so much.
Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by lstodd on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:13PM (#29433951)
Which would be utterly useless.

Math, and specifically Geometry aren't about useful skills, they are about understanding the world.

Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by jjoonathan on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:24PM (#29434118)
Linear algebra has geometry flat out beat in that arena, too. This isn't to say that Geometry doesn't help you learn about the world, but it is to say that Linear Algebra should be prioritized above Geometry if your goal is to understand the world.

I can't remember a physics class where LA didn't pay heavy dividends -- in particular, differential equations are the language of physics, and you'd be hard pressed to find either an analytical or computational diff eq technique that didn't have a core of linear algebra.

Meanwhile, the last time Power of a Point gave me dividends was on math contests.

Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by lstodd on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:31PM (#29434193)
LA is a very useful tool.

But imagine that you never heard of concepts behind it.

It'd just become a more-or-less useful artefact. And in no time it would devolve into a useless ... thing so to say, a decoration, as you lose knowledge how to apply it.

Re:An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post an... by jjoonathan on Friday December 03, 2021 @02:50PM (#29434446)
Yes, Geometry makes the funnest puzzles :-)

Believe me, it pains me to suggest bumping it back. Introductory proofy linear algebra just hits a quadruple home run: it's astonishingly useful, it's getting moreso, it's simple enough to remain age appropriate, and it can serve as an intro to proofs. As much as I enjoy geometry puzzles, I just don't see how they compete with that.

For the true fans, of course, the answer today & in this hypothetical future is still to learn both.