Overcoming SOTDRT educational neglect?

[Antimony]

i was wondering about that too! :D i love math, even though i'm just SOTDRT GED educated. It runs in the family so i can't claim any credit. My dad went to college on a computer science/mathematics major (in the '70's yay punch card programming horror stories lol) and my aunt got her masters in math. They used to sit around doing math problems out loud for fun at family reunions. /tangent hehe

Maybe Antimony meant this is part of the new common core methods? i have no clue. btw those memes about common core math on FB are just so awful. What's wrong with learning to do some of the steps mentally? :doh:

I didn't see this post for forever, but basically there is what technically counts as trig on the GRE but it is all special triangles -- meaning you memorize the side ratios of 30/60/90 (degrees) or 90/45/45 (degrees) triangles or 3/4/5 (right triangles, side lengths) and you can figure out a missing side length by memorizing the ratio.

And I hate that. I loathe it. Because it is solvable by trigometry and established by trig but the GRE only allows a 4 function calculator so you can only solve it by memorization of special triangles (when, in reality I could solve it just as fast with Law of Sines.)

It's the kind of trig they introduce usually late in Algebra 2 as a precursor to Trig I (in my high school, at least) and I dislike it very much because it isn't really problem solving. It's memorization of ratios for a very specific group of triangles and I'm awful at memorizing that kind of crap, but alas, it is part of the GRE.

It's also something you NEVER REALLY SEE IN HIGHER MATHS (at least, I haven't in all my high school courses) because it's not really about the nitty gritty guts or the truth or the method. It's just being handed, "These are the 3 special triangles, memorize their ratios, never actually solve the problem, this is your introduction to trig."

I hate all memorization of all things. It doesn't help the problem solving process and it really just kind of feels like a roadblock for my brain but GRE math doesn't surpass high school (doesn't even go to calculus) so that kind of thing is rampant on it. I hope I've explained this well, I've had some wine tonight. Basically, I don't see the point in memorizing a specific triangle when I understand how to use a formula that can solve any triangle and I don't think that memorization speaks to my math skills. But that's standardized testing for you.

[RachelB]

I didn't see this post for forever, but basically there is what technically counts as trig on the GRE but it is all special triangles -- meaning you memorize the side ratios of 30/60/90 (degrees) or 90/45/45 (degrees) triangles or 3/4/5 (right triangles, side lengths) and you can figure out a missing side length by memorizing the ratio.

And I hate that. I loathe it. Because it is solvable by trigometry and established by trig but the GRE only allows a 4 function calculator so you can only solve it by memorization of special triangles (when, in reality I could solve it just as fast with Law of Sines.)

It's the kind of trig they introduce usually late in Algebra 2 as a precursor to Trig I (in my high school, at least) and I dislike it very much because it isn't really problem solving. It's memorization of ratios for a very specific group of triangles and I'm awful at memorizing that kind of crap, but alas, it is part of the GRE.

It's also something you NEVER REALLY SEE IN HIGHER MATHS (at least, I haven't in all my high school courses) because it's not really about the nitty gritty guts or the truth or the method. It's just being handed, "These are the 3 special triangles, memorize their ratios, never actually solve the problem, this is your introduction to trig."

I hate all memorization of all things. It doesn't help the problem solving process and it really just kind of feels like a roadblock for my brain but GRE math doesn't surpass high school (doesn't even go to calculus) so that kind of thing is rampant on it. I hope I've explained this well, I've had some wine tonight. Basically, I don't see the point in memorizing a specific triangle when I understand how to use a formula that can solve any triangle and I don't think that memorization speaks to my math skills. But that's standardized testing for you.

Yeah, I didn't understand trig the first time I saw it, because it was all precisely that kind of memorization. Because my school didn't have a special trig class, my second intro, which actually stuck, was in calculus.

I would have loved to have more time devoted, in math, to explanations of "Here's why we're learning this." None of my math teachers ever talked about the underlying concepts until calc. And then all of a sudden I liked math.

I think the idea of common core is that it's supposed to help students grasp the underlying concepts. To which, right on.

[Walking Cat Bed]

I'm always embarrassed for the posters when I see those complaints about common core. They usually give as an example of how unreasonable common core is something like being asked to add using a number line or showing basic understanding of base 10.

I don't see Common Core as a terrible thing (of course, I spent middle and high school in a military town, and saw how often kids struggled when they got to a new school/county/state and were at a completely different place than they'd been before). The testing focus is a huge problem, but not consistent content and a fairly consistent timeline.

I DO think public school teachers are a lot smarter than administrators (and the Dept of Ed) give them credit for and should have more freedom and flexibility than they do...

[southerncharm]

What does SOTRDT stand for?

[apple1]

What does SOTRDT stand for?

SOTDRT = School Of The Dining Room Table - an FJ acronym developed when talking about those who do/did homeschooling poorly (generally - poorly).

AFAIK, most FJers have no problems with homeschooling done right, BTW.

[Katie_Bug]

I didn't see this post for forever, but basically there is what technically counts as trig on the GRE but it is all special triangles -- meaning you memorize the side ratios of 30/60/90 (degrees) or 90/45/45 (degrees) triangles or 3/4/5 (right triangles, side lengths) and you can figure out a missing side length by memorizing the ratio.

And I hate that. I loathe it. Because it is solvable by trigometry and established by trig but the GRE only allows a 4 function calculator so you can only solve it by memorization of special triangles (when, in reality I could solve it just as fast with Law of Sines.)

It's the kind of trig they introduce usually late in Algebra 2 as a precursor to Trig I (in my high school, at least) and I dislike it very much because it isn't really problem solving. It's memorization of ratios for a very specific group of triangles and I'm awful at memorizing that kind of crap, but alas, it is part of the GRE.

It's also something you NEVER REALLY SEE IN HIGHER MATHS (at least, I haven't in all my high school courses) because it's not really about the nitty gritty guts or the truth or the method. It's just being handed, "These are the 3 special triangles, memorize their ratios, never actually solve the problem, this is your introduction to trig."

I hate all memorization of all things. It doesn't help the problem solving process and it really just kind of feels like a roadblock for my brain but GRE math doesn't surpass high school (doesn't even go to calculus) so that kind of thing is rampant on it. I hope I've explained this well, I've had some wine tonight. Basically, I don't see the point in memorizing a specific triangle when I understand how to use a formula that can solve any triangle and I don't think that memorization speaks to my math skills. But that's standardized testing for you.

The GRE states that it only goes up to Algebra 2. It does not include trig. The triangle stuff just assumes you know how to do the Pythagorean’s theorem.

Based on your use of “maths†I’m assuming you are in Europe :D I don’t know much about mathematics courses over there, but here, solving side lengths and angles are basically ALL that is covered in HS geometry with those awful, horrible, downright despicable proofs thrown in for added torture. So I agree, trig does make geometry easier. I loved trig in HS and still hate geometry!