Mathematics is a fundamental subject for many professions, especially those related to science and technology. Yet, it is often perceived as too difficult, and many people believe it is okay that not everyone can be good at math. So most students give up learning this discipline and close doors to engineering and technological careers. In some cases, young people even reject using a maths scholarship as they are afraid of upcoming academic hardships.
In fact, the way pupils learn math in the U.S. doesn’t add up, judging by some statistics that show their poor proficiency levels. Why do students underperform in this subject? Let’s try to find out!
No unified vision
In fact, the math curriculum wasn’t really logically designed by professionals. Instead, it was shaped by a hailstorm of competing forces, such as textbook publishers, governments, parents, school administrators, teachers, testing companies, and even students. Each of these parties constantly reshapes the math curriculum to suit their needs. Therefore, there is no single author that creates an appropriate curriculum, so a clear and coherent compromise hasn’t been reached yet. On the contrary, study plans are endlessly being nudged and tweaked, eroded and built up.
Since nobody designed maths education, it’s so hard to find a clear sense of purpose in it as a whole. Some people say it’s about pulling kids into STEM, while others view it as imparting useful job skills. Some maths teachers focus on cultivating critical thinking, while others on ensuring compliance and rule-following. To some extent, all of these perspectives are right. But the problem is that they don’t always align with each other. Conflicting purposes just create a mess in education.
Depending on the school you go to, you’ll encounter voices singing very different tunes about the nature of math education. And unfortunately, there is no way to make them harmonize for now. Instead, the existing curriculum does its best to unite the whole dissonant bunch. And frankly speaking, it doesn’t really work. As a result, we have a so-called messy conglomerate, pursuing several contradictory goals of its own, instead of a single goal-oriented system.
Apart from that, teachers also contribute to the lack of system coordination. Unfortunately, they exert their own pressures and teach things that are either similar to what they learned in school or something that is fun and rewarding to teach. Sounds like a paradox, doesn’t it? Actually, this is really controversial because “what they learned in school” is usually spirit-crushing and ‘something that is fun and rewarding’ is far more creative. These opposites make instructors torn between what they know and what they value. And obviously, this doesn’t help the education system.
Help with math homework
Students often feel pressured with the amount of homework they get in school. Therefore, they seek ways to relieve the burden on their shoulders and decide to use outside help. Luckily, there are a lot of professional services and they answer at “do my math homework” request in Google search. So students just send tasks to maths experts and receive their assignments done after some time. This makes the study process much easier and enjoyable. The youths can finally reduce their homework stress and relax. But on the other hand, such an approach may lead to problems.
Some students abuse outside help from writing services. Anytime they face even small difficulties, they give up and don’t try to solve it on their own. Instead, they place an order on the assignment writing website and wait for their maths paper to be completed. Obviously, this strategy does not only make students lazy but also hinders their learning progress. If there are no difficulties to overcome, it’s impossible to gain new skills and knowledge. Successful education is attainable only when one is constantly challenged with complicated tasks.
Of course, it’s impractical to prohibit all assignment writing services. And it doesn’t even make sense because they might be really necessary and helpful in some cases. But at least, instructors should explain to students why using assistance excessively is not good for their development. Everyone must be aware of possible negative consequences caused by writing experts.
Final thoughts
Maths is a gateway to many scientific and IT fields. However, students often limit their future job opportunities as they find mathematics too difficult to study. The roots of this problem are actually in the way maths is taught in schools. Hopefully, this article gave you valuable insights on the education problems and helped to view things from a different perspective.
1 Comment
good article