An update on the campaign to defend serious math education in California

Re:An update on the campaign to defend serious math educatio... by AlchemistCamp on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @06:26PM (#31173947)

> No one is suggesting that all students take calculus in high school.

It’s very commonly taught in 10th grade in France, Germany, Singapore and Taiwan (where I used to teach). It’s not universal by any means but as far as I can tell, the idea that calculus should be delayed until university is a nearly uniquely American idea.

https://www.mathvalues.org/masterblog/calculus-around-the-wo...

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Re:An update on the campaign to defend serious math educatio... by zozbot234 on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @06:57PM (#31174197)

"Very commonly" in STEM-focused prep schools (i.e. the "academic" part of the tracked education system that's common outside the US). Which leaves you with very roughly the same percentages as the U.S. approach where Calculus is an elective course.

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Re:An update on the campaign to defend serious math educatio... by AlchemistCamp on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @10:26PM (#31175578)

> roughly the same percentages as the U.S. approach where Calculus is an elective course

I can’t speak with certainty about other places but this directly contradicts my experience living most of the past 20 years in Taiwan (and speaking with friends who taught mathematics in the public school system).

Many, many people not on a STEM track learn calculus in high school.

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Re:An update on the campaign to defend serious math educatio... by seanmcdirmid on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @12:33AM (#31176329)

My wife did the fine art/liberal art at a good mainland Chinese high school and didn’t really learn calculus, and definitely not later on in the fine art university she went to. I get the feeling that most Chinese students don’t learn calculus, but the ones that do are still slot (since China has a huge student population).

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