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"Is it my imagination, or have bridge building activities enjoyed
almost as much of a boost in popularity as bar graphs in recent
years? Since not all that many students have bridge building in
their future, I find it curious that this has become such a popular
'real world' example. If students need real world examples,
WHY NOT SHOW THEM SOME PROBLEMS FROM SERIOUS
PHYSICS AND CALCULUS TEXTBOOKS
and show that algebra/trig knowledge is a useful prerequisite for
solving these problems? ... [My CAPS.]
///
Perhaps physicist Al Bartlett's aphorism:
"THE GREATEST SHORTCOMING OF THE HUMAN RACE IS
OUR INABILITY TO
UNDERSTAND THE EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION"
might jolt some students into an appreciation of math.
CONSIDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF
THE U.S. COULD RAISE THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ON
MATH AND SCIENCE TO THE LEVELS OF WESTERN EUROPE WITHIN A DECADE.
According to Eric A. Hunushek . . .
U.S. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH WOULD THEN BE
4% HIGHER THAN OTHERWISE BY 2025 AND 10% HIGHER IN 30 YEARS." [My
CAPS.]
Kline, M. 1977. "Why the Professor Can't Teach," St. Martins Press.
Kline writes: "The writing in mathematics text is not only laconic to
a fault; it is cold, monotonous, dry, dull, and even ungrammatical. .
. . The books are not only printed by machines; they are written by
machines."