Poor maths again

I would agree with about the algebra not being particulary useful to most people who don't require it in their jobs, but O levels in their day were more of a preparation for higher education and technical jobs and they were used more as a measure of academic and mental ability. 

However thats not to say something should only be studied if its going to be useful, you probably use a lot of the skills learnt using alegbra far more than you realise, in working backwards from an answer, making logical correct steps from one to another, using the the rules of arithemtic in the right order and why they work, every time you do proportion, you're using the skills taught in algebra

..spoken like a true (ex) teacher  .... and I do a technical job .... always have & still never needed my B times table .... used trig a few times though 

*I can spell 'ideological'! Typo.

And algebra is fun, and is needed for physics.

.might be fun, but still useless 

I would agree with about the algebra not being particulary useful to most people who don't require it in their jobs, but O levels in their day were more of a preparation for higher education and technical jobs and they were used more as a measure of academic and mental ability. 

However thats not to say something should only be studied if its going to be useful, you probably use a lot of the skills learnt using alegbra far more than you realise, in working backwards from an answer, making logical correct steps from one to another, using the the rules of arithemtic in the right order and why they work, every time you do proportion, you're using the skills taught in algebra

..spoken like a true (ex) teacher  .... and I do a technical job .... always have & still never needed my B times table .... used trig a few times though 

sorry WHAT?  but how can you use trig without algebra????? It's impossible!!!!

What is your B times tables btw?

 ....

sorry WHAT?  but how can you use trig without algebra????? It's impossible!!!!

What is your B times tables btw?

Easily .... a bit of transposition but not algegra as I remember.

B Times table?  ...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqZo07Ot-uA It's Billy Connolly so expect a little colourful language 

Once again it's been shown that maths teaching in our schools is dire.

Kids in tbe UK are at least three years behind their far eastern equivalent.

Apparantly it's going to cost us an extra £41million to get our teachers to teach maths in a better way......a way that works.

Why don't they just do it better anyway?

Strange that our best universities have people clamouring from all over the world for places in science, medicine and engineering. We produce some of the top engineers, mathematicians, scientific and medical researchers  thanks to our approach to maths. We must be getting something right.

Standards of school education in the UK have been going backwards for a couple of decades now.  --- IMO there is no point in head teachers sitting on their hands and saying our teaching methods are the best and have been for centuries, but does it matter that other countries produce students with far greater qualities and qualifications in core subjects such as Mathematics, physics, chemistry and communication.

Our educationalists should be looking hard at the teaching methods and teaching  commitments of those successful countries and adopt the best into our country's outdated and ineffective schools.

Doing nothing and living in the past, is not an option, our kids deserve better than that.

K

As long as our children are happy and not under too much pressure then i dont care where we are in any "league table" and as far as the east is concerned who cares.

v9

As long as our children are happy and not under too much pressure then i dont care where we are in any "league table" and as far as the east is concerned who cares.

v9

Write your comments here...Thats all very well V9,  but we now live in a world economy.  For young people to get the best opportunities in life, they now have to compete with others from all over the world for the best jobs. Excellent qualifications do matter, even more so now. Employers will choose those who have the best qualifications, especially for opportunities in the real world, like Manufacturing Industry,  scientific research, Engineering, Medicine and International Law. 

Yes I admit,  the UK  can produce graduates in the performing arts,  arts and crafts, and other airy fairy occupations. But that is not what builds the economy of a nation. Nor does it give our dedicated graduates a challenging and interesting future

I here what your saying K but i think todays children and young people are under too much pressure and speaking for myself i think the standard of teaching in the UK is as good as most other countries and lets be honest there is no gaurantee of a job no matter how clever you are.And also looking at it another way the best education system in the world does,nt gaurantee to produce the best candidates for a job.

v9

As long as our children are happy and not under too much pressure then i dont care where we are in any "league table" and as far as the east is concerned who cares.

v9

Write your comments here...Thats all very well V9,  but we now live in a world economy.  For young people to get the best opportunities in life, they now have to compete with others from all over the world for the best jobs. Excellent qualifications do matter, even more so now. Employers will choose those who have the best qualifications, especially for opportunities in the real world, like Manufacturing Industry,  scientific research, Engineering, Medicine and International Law. 

Yes I admit,  the UK  can produce graduates in the performing arts,  arts and crafts, and other airy fairy occupations. But that is not what builds the economy of a nation. Nor does it give our dedicated graduates a challenging and interesting future

That's incredibly insulting to recent graduates and current students K - perhaps you didn't mean to be so rude?

The UK has nothing to fear about the standard of graduates in Maths, engineering etc and the number of foreign students suggests that these courses are well respected world wide.

As far as school standard maths goes - there are some exceptional and gifted mathematicians in every school, there are also some that just don't 'get' maths.  It's possible that this sort of rote learning will help them to pass exams, whether it will instill any mathematical ability is debatable