Re:Learning algebra in my 60s
by jonathanlydall on Tuesday August 09, 2022 @08:16AM
(#32396800)
My recollection is that we were taught the hypotenuse rule earlier in the year, might have even been just before trigonometry, but I have no recollection of being informed of any "connection" between them during school.
We were simply taught which equation to use for particular scenarios and how to use calculators with particular equations.
When you bought it up, I do recall the connection being used by Open University to explain things, which I also found a bit thrilling to learn.
Although only anecdotal evidence, I have asked a few South African colleagues over the years about the unit circle and it seems like none of them were taught it during school, so it seems like it's just not in the curriculums over here, which I feel is a tragedy.
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1. Although when I think about educational malpractice, I remember a program I was teaching in where the director asked me about why the numerator and denominator were called what they were and I explained the denominator identified what kind of fraction (and made the analogy to denominations of currency) and the numerator was how many (the “number”) of that kind of fraction. She then, that same day, gave a talk to the assembled teachers saying that she’d asked me and I’d said that’s just what they were called. I nearly stood up and screamed in anger. If I hadn’t desperately needed the money, I would have quit on the spot.