American Students in Mathematics

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Chat' started by nycmathguy, May 25, 2022.

  1. nycmathguy

    nycmathguy

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    It has been stated that American students are behind in terms of mathematics when compared to China, Japan, Russia, India, etc. What could be the reason for this educational tragedy?
     
    nycmathguy, May 25, 2022
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  2. nycmathguy

    MathLover1

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    What could be the reason:
    In most of the world Mathematics is about logic. It is about proving that a certain fact is true (or false, or proving that it is not possible to prove whether it is true – this kind of thing). The beauty of Math (as opposed to Humanities ) is its clear logic.
    I think Americans in general (by no means all Americans, but the dominate culture) are suspicious of any abstract knowledge, while they highly value any practical knowledge. The American Hero – The Self-Made Man – usually does not have much formal education (or is being praised for dropping out of college). Because of that, Math as a school subject is reduced to its practical usage - filling known formulas with numeric values. This is bad in itself, but it also causes the smartest students to get bored in Math classes. The smarter the kid, the earlier he/she understands that he is asked to do the work of a calculator.
     
    MathLover1, May 25, 2022
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  3. nycmathguy

    nycmathguy

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    1. American students are taught math by out of subject teachers.

    2. American students are lazy.

    3. American students are victims of public school education as they are promoted from grade to grade without having earned the needed credits.

    4. American students think the world owes them everything. They don't have to work for anything of value.

    5. American students are victims of TEACHING THE TEST as opposed to TEACHING TO LEARN.
     
    nycmathguy, May 25, 2022
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  4. nycmathguy

    MathLover1

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    American students are victims of those who are "money greedy" and don't want "smart" students.
     
    MathLover1, May 25, 2022
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  5. nycmathguy

    nycmathguy

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    We know who doesn't want American kids to know more than robots addicted to their cell phones and video games. It's called the DUMBING DOWN OF THE UNITED STATES, a totally leftist plan.
     
    nycmathguy, May 25, 2022
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  6. nycmathguy

    MathLover1

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    "leftist plan"???????????? who is cutting budget for education?
     
    MathLover1, May 25, 2022
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  7. nycmathguy

    nycmathguy

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    1. I am not into politics.
    2. I am not a leftist.
    3. I am not a Democrat.
    4. I live in the United States that allows me to pick parties or to be independent.
    5. America, by the grace of God, remains a capitalistic country. Work hard, compete for everything and anything we need.
     
    nycmathguy, May 25, 2022
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  8. nycmathguy

    MathLover1

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    you are into politics very much so, you agree with all what gop says, nothing shows your independency
     
    MathLover1, May 25, 2022
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  9. nycmathguy

    nycmathguy

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    Back to math and there we will stay.
     
    nycmathguy, May 26, 2022
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  10. nycmathguy

    LazyLemonLucas

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    China is 3.5x larger than the U.S. (in population) so China has to sacrifice student leisure activities for the sake of academic proficiency. Just watch a video of how Chinese students go about their regular school routine.

    Japan is also a unitary and collectivist society like China and so the cultural pressures are the same.

    Russia and India? I'm not so sure, I'll be honest.

    The best examples of academic proficiency as a result of a education system is South Korea, Japan, and China, which coincidentally are well-known for their culture in appreciation of education.

    I'm Vietnamese so I should know... Since Vietnam is largely influenced by China, we get some cultural and educational systems from China. As such, the Vietnamese people put a large emphasis on academic proficiency.

    One thing that is bad about this culture is the tendency to neglect mental health. With such emphasis on academic proficiency, this supersedes mental health in all aspects.

    I've realized how disrespectful and unappreciative some American students can be and that's super unfortunate because I love the United States (there's a reason why I have Theodore Roosevelt as my profile picture).

    We rank 14th best in the world, education-wise. Even though we spend the most on a student per-capita.
     
    LazyLemonLucas, Jun 18, 2022
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  11. nycmathguy

    LazyLemonLucas

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    This is actually pretty coherent.

    Americans, ever since the Industrial Revolution, we like to make up the idea we call "The American Dream".

    America started to get rich, filthy rich, once it started to replace Great Britain as the world's top economy. The socioeconomic implications meant that almost anybody could attain some sort of economic achievement and move higher through the social echelon.

    It bred a pragmatic approach to things, doing what is needed and thinking in terms of benefits and detriments.

    I think culture plays a large part in determining how a society might react to certain things.

    What's funny to me is that the United States downplays mathematics yet is one of the most dominant scientific forces in the world.
     
    LazyLemonLucas, Jun 18, 2022
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