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Universe expected to decay in 10⁷⁸ years, much sooner than previously thought (scienceaim.com)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by Sunflier@lemmy.world to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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You won't get any time off though, and will still have to go into work.

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[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I just noticed during my TA work that when most students were having issues in the more advanced maths, that their fundamental issue was a misunderstanding of fractions and decimals. Once I got them to understand how those two relate to each other, they started understand the rest of the math. The fractions in algebra are generally an entire term in the equation. The other issue that kids had was getting them to stop thinking literally about distinct numbers, and getting them to think about the concept of numbers.

I think the other guy was saying that calculus makes the mathematics of curves a whole lot simpler than algebra does, but that's a weird way to describe that.

Having flirted with the education system of the US and having two parents with degrees in education, I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that I have no clue how to fix how math is taught in this country, just that the way we do it seems fundamentally broken right around 4th to 5th grade.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Thanks, great clarification. I still don't understand the application of algebra, but I'm sure it's good for something. I don't question it, because I don't have knowledge about it. I know a lot of really arcane, obscure, super advanced musical stuff, but I understand why casual bystanders wouldn't get it at all. The difference is, I wouldn't expect middle schoolers to learn obscure musical knowledge that they'll NEVER, EVER need.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

To be fair, Algebra and Trig are mostly just stepping stones that are needed to understand Calculus. Calculus is the easy way to calculate curves, which you do instinctively. If you've ever thrown a ball, gone bowling, or driven a car you used calculus, just unknowingly, and, most likely, with poor precision.