from the editor's desk : mathematics

news flash: girls are as good as boys when it comes to math

Lee_Teschler — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:03:00 GMT

If women aren't going into technology and science career fields, it is not because they lack math apptitude. New research finds no difference between the average math scores of boys and girls in the grades 2 through 11. You can find a link to the study here, along with some interesting commentary on it at the Chronicle of Higher Education:

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3191/girls-as-good-as-boys-at-math-study-finds?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

take a math course, make more money

Lee_Teschler — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:07:00 GMT

Here's a news flash: People who take higher level math courses tend to make more money than those who do not, regardless of what they majored in. As reported in the blogs of the Chronicle of Higher Education,

In raw terms, the two scholars found the usual salary disparities: Nursing and social-work majors earn $48,900 per year, on average, while engineering majors bring home an average of $102,290. But Mr. Hamermesh and Mr. Donald found that .....................regardless of their choice of major and regardless of their mathematics SAT scores — students earn significantly more money if they take more upper-level math and science courses.

Here is the link:

http://chronicle.com/news/article/4656/major-in-business-make-a-bundle-its-not-quite-so-simple?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

math panel says: emphasize fractions

Lee_Teschler — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:10:00 GMT

Readers of my editorials may recall one piece wherein I mentioned the story of a 1980s presidential candidate who reportedly had to ask his press entourage how to calculate the decimal equivalent of 3/7, to help his son with a home work problem. With that tale in mind, perhaps the recommendations of a presidential panel on math education should come as no surprise:

"Difficulty with fractions (including decimals and percents) is pervasive and is a major obstacle to further progress in mathematics, including algebra," the panel, appointed by President Bush two years ago, said in a report.

Another main point to come out of the panel's work is that we really don't know all that much about the best way to teach mathematical concepts. You can read a good commentary on the report findings here, as well as find a link to the report itself:

http://mathpanelwatch.blogspot.com/