Friends, we have a new National Science Foundation-funded project called "Needed Math" We are trying to sort out what math is needed by technicians in the manufacturing workplace (as opposed to the math that is taught in community college technical or applied math courses). The purpose of the study is to better align mathematics coursework with industry needs. We've developed a 40-item survey that has been vetted by industrialists but would like to pilot test it with additional colleagues……especially manufacturing technicians or instructors who teach courses for manufacturing technicians. Electronic technicians working in manufacturing likely use different math, than say, those who work in biotech or materials fabrication. Please consider assisting us. Pilot testing is necessary to assure the validity of the survey items. The survey would take you about 20-30 minutes. We're not asking anyone to do any of the math, just to tell us if each survey item is relevant--and if schooling prepares students to do these tasks. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. We'd sincerely appreciate your help. Here's the survey link for technicians: https://tinyurl.com/manutechnicians Here's the survey link for technical educators: https://tinyurl.com/technicaleducators Michael Hacker, K2CA
Just what I'm deeply pondering on, up to my neck in, on this very day. Where does a well-rounded education fit in, in the modern tech driven society? I studied very orthodox Pre-University Entrance UK 'A-Level' Maths. (And physics, and computer science). 'Back in the day'. The stuff I learned, at that level, calculus, and all manner of equations didn't come into any practical use, at all. It's leaning into the realm of higher-maths, which is about proofs of how the equations work. Its not much use, no use, to a CNC engineer or DSP designer. What my era maths education was, was a traditional grounding in the unchanging rock fundamentals of math and of physics. A description of what makes the physical universe remain reliable & solid. I feel largly left-behind by modern DSP electronics & its mathematical origins - all the algorithm development. Sure, I'm 66 in 6 weeks, so no great surprise. All the time, and all my life I've met engineering types who took a more practical approach to life. We all have our reasons. The world is speeding up, driven by economic requirements for new-tech or for the love of tech itself, though that latter seems less likely. Here, in the UK, 'learning for learning's sake' went out with the 1980's or a little earlier. I still think it has its place. I don't care if I'm 'irrelevant'. I could live perfectly happily without DSP, or perhaps without CNC laser cutting, though barely. I could still get by. I did a degree course in software development with higher-math, aged 47. Solely to prove to myself that I could cope with it, if necessary. A bit of self-respect? A sense of understanding and a sense of getting the meaning of the fundamentals is what I personally thought I needed when I was 17 thru 19. Perhaps I should have done Drama instead. 'Out of the way Grand-dad', I heard for the 1st-time in my life, from a speedy yute, dressed all in black, just last Thursday in a shop. Welcome to the 21C supermarket. Ill-educated brat! So, I just bought a DSP radio, a very decent & recent one, to help me keep up with the throng.
Shouldn't the education institutions be doing the survey to see if their course of instruction is compatible with industry requirements? Not wanting to get too far off-topic, but indoctrination is not education.
The "we" is a team of experienced industrialists, math educators, technical educators, researchers, and an external evaluator. We've been working together for over a year. Just finished the first draft of our pilot survey (that's what I'm hoping to get feedback on). Michael
"Where does a well-rounded education fit in, in the modern tech driven society?" Such a great question. It not only gets to the question of what subject matter content is needed, but to the very purposes of education. Those purposes extend beyond career preparation and this argues for a broad liberal education for all. I turn into an octogenarian in a few weeks and I'm consistently aware of how hard it would be for someone my age to assimilate the competencies needed to survive in this "modern tech-riven society." It requires constant effort to keep up and not be left behind. Congratulations on having gone back to school to do software development at age 47!!! 73's Michael
Yup. Many of the institutions I work with are two-year community/technical colleges. Most have advisory boards with industry representatives. Math is rarely discussed. And indoctrination doesn't lead to people who are able to critically think about problems. Mostly what will create an educated and capable populace is giving students chance to solve problems that are relevant and interesting to them. Those problems are typically interdisciplinary and require synthesis of knowledge from a host of disciplinary domains. They're messy problems that don't have one answer. There are tradeoffs to consider. Design problems are excellent teaching and learning contexts.
(You won't be an octogenarian until the end of 80th year.) I sure hope I'm still kicking like you when my odometer turns over!
That does not seem to bode well for your industry. I hope things improve in short order. The "messy problems" you mention won't be resolved by a list of programs with fancy names/acronyms but by an honest effort to determine the needs and act on them. Good Luck!
In fairness, most of these folks are very able, and sincerely want to do what's right for their students. Revising math is hard because there's so much tradition--and a lot of vested interest in preserving it. We're a very small project but perhaps we can collect enough evidence to drive some reform efforts in some of the regions we're working in.
I started but got bored after a few questions. One thing I noticed was most of the answers started with ALMOST every day with no choice for simply EVERY day. I'm retired now, but when I was working I used test and measurement instruments EVERY day. So I couldn't truthfully answer! Perhaps consider; Every day, Once a week, Once a month, Once a year, Never Sorry my attention span is that of an ADD ten year old!
In what ways are you thinking to revise math? I assume you mean the teaching of it, so can you give some examples of what you are thinking?
The purpose of my posting is to invite people who are interested in contributing to possible reform in math curriculum and instruction to help us by pilot testing our survey. Once we have data, we will share results with working groups nationally. We will encourage each working group to develop scenarios that situate important math concepts in real-world contexts. Here is the survey link: https://tinyurl.com/manutechnicians Many thanks for considering taking it. Michael
