40% of College Students get this question wrong. AND IT MAKES ME ANGRY!
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I don't think my forgetting how to do it had anything to do with actively choosing to abandon the knowledge, it was just that it never got used. It's a shame that I have forgotten how to do it, but with 3 years passed and absolutely no need to even think about it (until this thread), it hardly seems worth trying to relearn it again.Hawgh said:
And the never needing it in the real world thing just applies to me, hence why I forgot it in the first place. To other people it probably is still relevant to this day, but I would hazard a guess that the larger majority of people either went on to study something where it isn't relevant, or left school and got a job that it wasn't relevant to.
Reading some of the comments here, it's remarkable how many of you can remember it (though whether or not this is true or people are just using google is another matter). Oh well, never was very fond of maths to begin with
Are you talking about Australian High Schools? Factoring Polynomials is taught end of year 10 and continues through as expected knowledge to two unit year 11, which most call advanced maths. As a reference point most people turn 16 in year 10.SteelStallion said:
But after year 10 a student has the choice of not doing math, going on to general maths or advanced maths (or even more advanced maths I suppose) and general maths is fucking easy. Really easy. One subject involved counting the number of windows on a drawing of a house. Check this out [http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/maths_general_syl.pdf] and go read pages 36 to 37 if you need proof or are just curious. I would wager that a six year could have done a large amount of that subject. And guess what, they're creating an easier maths course for people who have trouble with general maths.
Personally I think that there should be a course between General and Advanced so that people who are good at maths but don't want a future in mathematics or find the advanced course too difficult can go to a class suited for them. Nearly every single one of my friends left advanced because it was too hard and then found general too easy, it's kind of like a three bears thing and students need the class thats just right.
I'm not exactly sure what the lower general maths class will teach but I can't see how they can get any easier without covering previous ground. Maybe thats the point but wouldn't it be better to improve the year 9/10 course than making the slower students take it twice?
I passed my Maths GCSE in school and promptly purged the useless stuff. I haven't had to use anything more complicated than basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and I'm an apprentice engineer for crying out loud.
I'm not surprised at all at that percentage. And I've gotta say to out right dismiss some of the degrees students work hard for as "fake" is quite frankly disgustingly arrogant. Considering your arguments basically boils down to "I think it is so it's true"
I'm not surprised at all at that percentage. And I've gotta say to out right dismiss some of the degrees students work hard for as "fake" is quite frankly disgustingly arrogant. Considering your arguments basically boils down to "I think it is so it's true"
I knew the answer, my I got straight A's in high school math. People have a tendency to forget things, so knowledge is lost, but my freshmen algebra teacher made sure no one ever forgot this one. Almost ever class she would yell "THE SQUARE OF THE FRIST PLUS TWICE THE PRODUCT PLUS THE SQUARE OF THE LAST"
I excelled in Alegbra and calculus and I don't even know what the fuck FOIL means
But I suppose
I guess I'm smarter than 40% of college students. I already knew that though I thought it would be about 90%.
But I suppose
the answer is [X^2+6x+9] correct?
I guess I'm smarter than 40% of college students. I already knew that though I thought it would be about 90%.
(x+3)^2 = x^2+6x+9
40%... That's pretty sad
Then again, I'm in muti-variable calculus so this stuff is child's play
In my state of Australia I don't know if we ever do that particular formula. It certainly doesn't ring any bells (and in fact doesn't even look like a proper question to me, just a bunch of letters followed by an equation - it's obviously shorthand, but I'm used to longhand maths questions). However, mathematics was never my strong point (I'm much more of a literary or research type). I passed everything in the later years (up to grade 10, in grade 11 I dropped it) but I never really needed to retain anything.
Actually the only thing I can think of right now that I do remember from maths is Pythagoras' Theorem for figuring out a right-angle triangle. Which is pretty useless as a formula unless you're a builder/engineer... or just run into a lot of perfect right-angle triangles in everyday life. XD
Anyway, I'm three years into university (doing a BA [Writing, Media Studies double major]), and four years out of school. If it was taught at school, you can't honestly expect me to remember. It was mostly meaningless anyway. Now personal finance, that was practical study work...
I guess I'd review my maths skills if ever I needed them for something, though. It doesn't take long to bring back things you once knew.
Honestly, I don't see the point about being depressed when people lack a certain type of information... we all have to specialise in work and in life after school, so expecting the general base education from primary/secondary schooling to not deteriorate by the time you're in college is kind of fascist.
Of course, there are some things that as citizens it is practical for everyone to know, like world geography. I've seen some horrifying guesses at where places are from full American adults, like labelling North Korea on Australia on the map. That kind of thing really should be taught at every level of high school... but an overemphasis on America over the rest of the world is pervasive in that nation's news media as well as its education.
Actually the only thing I can think of right now that I do remember from maths is Pythagoras' Theorem for figuring out a right-angle triangle. Which is pretty useless as a formula unless you're a builder/engineer... or just run into a lot of perfect right-angle triangles in everyday life. XD
Anyway, I'm three years into university (doing a BA [Writing, Media Studies double major]), and four years out of school. If it was taught at school, you can't honestly expect me to remember. It was mostly meaningless anyway. Now personal finance, that was practical study work...
I guess I'd review my maths skills if ever I needed them for something, though. It doesn't take long to bring back things you once knew.
Honestly, I don't see the point about being depressed when people lack a certain type of information... we all have to specialise in work and in life after school, so expecting the general base education from primary/secondary schooling to not deteriorate by the time you're in college is kind of fascist.
Of course, there are some things that as citizens it is practical for everyone to know, like world geography. I've seen some horrifying guesses at where places are from full American adults, like labelling North Korea on Australia on the map. That kind of thing really should be taught at every level of high school... but an overemphasis on America over the rest of the world is pervasive in that nation's news media as well as its education.
Thank you for saying what I wanted to say.Erana said:
Hmm, freshman in college (Computer Sci major), let me give it a go.
FOIL, as I understand it, is an acronym for First Outer Inner Last, although expansion is not generally taught that way (at least in my experience).
Mind you, I'm terrible at math, so I might have borked that up.
Edit: You say 40%, but I can't imagine that number is accurate. I'm going to remain skeptical until you post a source confirming that number in your OP.
FOIL, as I understand it, is an acronym for First Outer Inner Last, although expansion is not generally taught that way (at least in my experience).
Well, let's see. (x+3)^2 is the same as (x+3)(x+3). therefore, we multiply the first x by the second x, getting x^2. Then, we multiply x times the back value, in this case 3, so 3x, and add that to the first result (as in, (x^2)+3x). Then, we multiply the first 3 by the second x, so 3x which we add to the first 3x, then we take 3*3 to get nine. So, we wind up with:
x^2 + 6x + 9
although in simpler cases like this one, I prefer to remember this: (x+y)^2 = x^2 +2xy + y^2
x^2 + 6x + 9
although in simpler cases like this one, I prefer to remember this: (x+y)^2 = x^2 +2xy + y^2
Mind you, I'm terrible at math, so I might have borked that up.
Edit: You say 40%, but I can't imagine that number is accurate. I'm going to remain skeptical until you post a source confirming that number in your OP.
my computer was out for a bit so i was in the basement typing up a lab on the schools dorm computer. The guy next to me ask my major and i told him Civil Engineering. I got the reply "o good you know math how do i do this"
the question was y >= x+3 and he dint have a problem with greater then or less than it was were to place the line went so yes i can believe that about foil when there people that can't even make a graph that is given to them in y intercept form.
the question was y >= x+3 and he dint have a problem with greater then or less than it was were to place the line went so yes i can believe that about foil when there people that can't even make a graph that is given to them in y intercept form.
f=front o=outside i=inside l=last
(x+3)^2=(x+3)*(x+3)
=x^2+3x+3x+3^2
=x^2+6x+9
(x+3)^2=(x+3)*(x+3)
=x^2+3x+3x+3^2
=x^2+6x+9
You make it sound as though the essential-for-life industries are the only ones with value. But society is more than a system or a bunch of nuts and bolts, and quality of life is as important as quantity. That's more true now that IT has created a society where information is a commodity; artists create things that the public cannot, to a level that the public cannot. That's not "subjective"; there are great pillars of learning in the arts that can only be approached through structured education.iTeamKill said:
The beauty of society is what makes society enjoyable, and fun is what makes life worth living (which is, in my opinion, essential). Art, as the fundamental of human expression, is the critical element that gives the world its colour. Without it, you would not have news services (which rely on the art of graphic design), TV entertainment (animation), gaming (concept art and creative work), literature, or the music you enjoy. Only a puritan could go without all of these things, and since you're typing on an internet forum (writing, graphic design), I can tell that you aren't one.
So take it from me: science and engineering owe a lot to the arts. If you devalue one pillar of thought and study, the entire Pantheon collapses on itself. There is no reason for society to go on if you remove any one of them.
I agree with you here as well.TheMadTypist said:
As an actual history major and a classics minor I contest your claim. A good grasp of math (and every other subject for that matter) makes for a better historian. Things like statistics and quantative history requires math, as does other fields of study.Fox242 said:
It's the same in demographic or economic history. You simply cannot get by just knowing some emperors. At least not the way I see the field of history.
I submit that no matter what you do in life, you are better of by having a firm grasp of math.
That said, I needed a second to expand the equation, both do to me not having a clue what FOIL was and due to not having done so in 10 years. But I got it right.
