To Keep Students in Stem Fields, Let’s Weed Out the Weed-Out Math Classes | Hacker News Reader

To Keep Students in Stem Fields, Let’s Weed Out the Weed-Out Math Classes

scientificamerican.com

8 pointsMerrill5 comments

> All routes to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degrees run through calculus classes. Each year, hundreds of thousands of college students take introductory calculus. But only a fraction ultimately complete a STEM degree, and research about why students abandon such degrees suggests that traditional calculus courses are one of the reasons. With scientific understanding and innovation increasingly central to solving 21st-century problems, this loss of talent is something society can ill afford.

Calling this a loss of talent is disingenuous at best. If a student drops out because they can't pass freshman calculus, they will just be dead weight to STEM, not an asset.

I got a Compsci degree and never had to take calculus. My college offered an alternative track that required financial accounting and statistics. I now work at a prestigious well-known tech company as an engineer. I probably would have dropped out if I had to take calculus; I spent 2 years in remedial math courses leading up to starting my undergrad.

I don't think this is a fair characterization of these students' abilities. Kids struggle not because they are too dumb but because the combined course workload is egregiously high. And they also have part time jobs that eats into their time. And the professors are selected for their research and not for their teaching skills. And therefore some kids drop out of STEM and some commit suicide.

I took vector calculus from professors in the institute of technology and in the school of liberal arts. You got a BS or a BA in Math depending on which was your home. The professors from the institute of technology used diagrams and related concepts to mechanics and electromagnetics. The professor from liberal arts taught a purely abstract course without such aids, and it was far more difficult to understand. It was also far less useful for an electrical engineer.

That said, I realize that if one is headed for an advanced degree in theoretical physics, communications theory, solid state physics, etc., then the more abstract course may be the better choice.

Reimagining calculus has changed several schools’ success rates. Here’s how.

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