| | I attended Harvey Mudd College, and I majored in math, with a focus in discrete math and theoretical computer science.
I don't talk about my time at HMC very much. There are great things about the school, but for me, going there was a mistake I prefer not to reminisce. However, there is something I want to put down about my time there.
The core curriculum is pretty strenuous, and you have to take rigorous courses in math, chemistry, physics, bio, computer science, and engineering, regardless of your major. Of those disciplines, the math requirements were probably the most extensive: everyone takes calculus, multivariable calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra. Despite the fact that I majored in math, I hated that part of the curriculum. Those are all extremely useful courses, and necessary, if you major in chemistry, physics, or engineering (and maybe bio as well...but I can't think of many occasions a computer scientist encounters a need for DEs). However, while it would probably be irresponsible to give a math degree to someone who hadn't been exposed to that material, they were not really necessary for much of the work I did within major, and in no sense were they representative of the type of math I spent my time doing. This always seemed unfair, in my view, to the field of mathematics. The core courses we took in the other disciplines seemed very representative of the sort of work you would do if you pursued a major in those fields, and were sort of an opportunity for the department to showcase what the major was about. The math requirements, however, were basically service courses; required because the other departments (engineering especially) needed them. The math profs did what they could to make it a true math course, presenting material as a series of constructive proofs, and going on interesting asides from time to time, but there really is only so much you can do to make applied mathematics interesting, even if you approach the subject from a pure math vantage point, and very little can be done to make it fun. I always felt that if DEs was dropped from the core, and Discrete was made a requirement in its stead, the number of math majors would probably double. Discrete was probably the most fun course I ever took at Mudd, and very representative of what I studied later. Moreover, I always thought that after completing trigonometry in high school, students should have the option of taking an AP course in either Discrete or Calculus, rather than forcing the latter as the only avenue for further study of math at the high school level. If that were the case, I think the number of math majors would rise dramatically nation-wide. A year (or two) of calculus in high school, followed by two more in college, and then differential equations (which is basically just more calculus) gives the impression that all advanced mathematics is calculus.
Anyway, why mention all this here and now? Well, I complained about this issue a lot at Mudd, to students and professors alike. One Professor I remember talking to about it was Arthur Benjamin, who was my instructor for Discrete, Number Theory, and Combinatorics. It wasn't a long conversation, but as I recall, I think he thought the idea of integrating Discrete into high school math curriculums was kind of interesting.
Right now, the annual TED conference is happening, where people from around the country are invited to come and present their "best idea." Professor Benjamin presented there this year, and seemingly his presentation went well. The following was posted to the TED twitter feed:
#TED Art Benjamin should be the next US Czar of Mathematics
Curious, I tried to find out what Prof. Benjamin's talk had been about. Unfortunately, the video wont be posted until some time later this year, but I found the following brief follow-up interview on the TED blog where he was asked what else he would have discussed if he had more time on stage. His response:
"If I had an extra minute, I'd also talk about how we shouldn't only show the mathematics that's useful -- and statistics is useful for being an educated consumer and citizen. We could replace a lot of the drudgerous mathematics that's being taught with math that's purely fun, with no real promise of 'you're going to use this,' but just 'this is beautiful stuff.'"
Now, to be clear, I am not trying to take credit for anything Prof. Benjamin has said, at TED or elsewhere. He is one of the most brilliant people I have met, and one of the most gifted teachers. Even my ego, over-inflated though it may be, isn't able to presume that level self-importance.
But, while at this point, nothing in the national math curriculum has actually changed, even the possibility that a gripe I made to a professor during his office hours could be a seed that ends up redirecting the approach to mathematics education on a national level gives me vertigo.
Prof. Benjamin's talk at TED was titled "Down with Calculus." I look forward to hearing what he has to say when the video gets posted. |
| | Posted 2/8/2009 3:18 AM - 54 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
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