Cost Of Education

[Calm]

As a computer programmer, I use base 16 a lot (at least every week). If you are writing c/c++ code and have to debug pointer manipulation, you better be pretty good with base 16 math. If you are dealing with binary flags (which I think is pretty common), you better be good at base 16 math. The only difference between base 2 and base 16 is that base 16 takes a lot less characters and printf() has a hex formatter (%X). Only time I use octal is when I have to do linux file permissons (0644, 0755, 0777 anyone ). I also play a little in base 64. I'm actually teaching my kids, nieces and nephews how to count in base 6 since that is extremely natural with your hands (you can count to 35 with your hands in base 6).

You got my heart all a flutter with such talk.

[bcuzbcuz]

Spending is generally predictive to the extent that the less money that is spent the worse the outcomes become.

It is not always the case but generally you get what you pay for. Saving money at the expense of education is very short-sighted.

[thesometimesaint]

Very little in this life is always true in every case. British Penny wise and British Pound foolish.

[bcuzbcuz]

I'm actually teaching my kids, nieces and nephews how to count in base 6 since that is extremely natural with your hands (you can count to 35 with your hands in base 6).

Using the Korean fingermath you can add and subtract up to 99 on your fingers. It is extremely quick. There are even apps on the iPad.

[Vex]

From what I've read on this subject they copy the American way of doing things because it works. The difference between them and US is that we have strayed from the way we used to do things. To add to it the teachers take a much more active roll in the engagement of the students and the application of their studies:

http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Education/Basic-education/Facts/Education-in-Sweden/

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the study/report/story which related this fact .

[webbles]

Using the Korean fingermath you can add and subtract up to 99 on your fingers. It is extremely quick. There are even apps on the iPad.

Cool.

[Traela]

I'm actually teaching my kids, nieces and nephews how to count in base 6 since that is extremely natural with your hands (you can count to 35 with your hands in base 6).

You can count up to 1023 in base 2.

[Nathair/|\]

There are 10 types of people in the world, those who don't understand binary and those who do.

[Sleeper Cell]

I believe that teacher quality and motivation, combined with parental interest, are probably the most important factors in a success program of education. And are far more important than how much money is spent per pupil.

My daughters math teacher in 10th grade took an entire classroom week to attempt to teach a particular arithmetic operation (don't remember which after all these years), and she finally came to me in desparation for help (normally, she avoided this like the plague). It took me five minutes to successfully explain the operation to her, whereupon she asked incredulously "Is that ALL?!?" "Yep," I replied. She was shocked. So was I, actually. In other words, her math teacher couldn't teach math. This mathematical operation in question was not at all esoteric. ...

And of course there are sometimes new and bizarre curricula that come out -- when some "educator" imagines some new thing to be taught, or some old or esoteric thing to be taught in a new way. I recall the so-called "New Math" that came out in the 60's. My 8th grade math teacher, Mrs. Armstrong, was quite enthusiastic about math in general, and really took to teaching us these "new" things. She was actually good at it, but some of the information she passed on was utterly useless

[emphasis added]

I am also a “New Math” survivor. My first year algebra class spent an entire week on the difference between a number and the written symbol that stands for the number! My first exam consisted of one problem: punctuate a paragraph by using “single quotes” every time “eight” referred to the symbol for eight, rather than the actual quantity.

I kid you not!

Of course, none of us had ever had the slightest problem with this concept. However, by the end of the week, many of us were thoroughly confused because we “knew" there had to be something we were missing; otherwise, our teacher wouldn‘t be making such a big deal out of it.

To make it worse, this was the (alleged) advanced algebra class for those who scored in the top 20% on a math aptitude test. The others got conventional algebra.

Fortunately, many of our fathers were engineers, physicists, etc. They had a few words to say. As a result, the course was modified (not enough, IMO) and at the end of the school year, the New Math was dropped (until another new math came along).

Incidentally, it occurred to us kids that the reason that only the “top 20%“ were given new math may have been that someone planned to later compare the math skills of the “new math students” vs. those of the conventional math students. In that sense, we “new math students” may have learned something we would have not learned, had we taken conventional math. However, I doubt it was what the new math advocates intended.

[bu11fr0g]

Utah has had similar rankings for years. This was actually boasted about. My synopsis of the boast: utah spends the least per pupil yet our students are only slightly below average.

[bcuzbcuz]

From what I've read on this subject they copy the American way of doing things because it works. The difference between them and US is that we have strayed from the way we used to do things. To add to it the teachers take a much more active roll in the engagement of the students and the application of their studies:

http://www.sweden.se...tion-in-Sweden/

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the study/report/story which related this fact .

The article makes an interesting read....but is hardly more than propaganda by the Ministry of Education. Swedeish teachers are, in general, very engaged in their students, but until the new reform is finished, sometime in 2015 or 16, Swedish schools have no guarantee that teachers are qualifed for the job. Swedish teachers do not, by any means, share the same pride in work nor support nor endorsement from the community as Finnish teachers do.

[bcuzbcuz]

Utah has had similar rankings for years. This was actually boasted about. My synopsis of the boast: utah spends the least per pupil yet our students are only slightly below average.

I've heard people say the same about their car. "It's not very good, but at least, it didn't cost too much." A line from a Finnish film a few years back. Buyer, "I want a good and cheap car." Salesman, "OK, so you want two cars."

[Kenngo1969]

Dang! If only Utah spent as much per pupil as the District of Columbia! Then we'd have a really, super-duper quality education system and education!

http://www.census.go...e/cb12-113.html

Edited December 17, 2012 by Kenngo1969

[thesometimesaint]

There is an old saying that I appreciate: If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

[Kenngo1969]

There is an old saying that I appreciate: If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

I have no argument with that, but one also needs to look beyond the per-pupil-spending numbers to determine how much "bang" one is getting for one's buck. Could (should?) Utah spend more per pupil? Probably. But all the money in the world, spent on the wrong things, will never fix the problem. (And although I'm on the outside looking in, I think D.C.'s per-pupil spending is a perfect illustration of that.)

Edited December 17, 2012 by Kenngo1969