Reader comments
Pushing practical education

I disagree that skills learned in physics class don't help in everyday life situations. I took AP Physics class in High School and there learned to solve very difficult problems and learned to think more logically. These skills and insights didn't leave me when the physics class was over. Later when I began attending university, the dean of the school of business came to speak at the beginning engineer�s orientation. He said that not all of us hopeful engineers would make it into the engineering programs, that there were more of us than there were slots open. He then encouraged those who didn't make it into the engineering program to come over to the school of business. He said the problem solving and logical thinking ability we had gained in our high school education would serve us very well in business, and he said people who don't make the engineering cut do very well in the business school.

Unfortunately math and physics education has been watered down since I went to school in the 1970's. We need to restore physics and math education not de-emphasizes these subjects.

So, instead of taking a physics class, this paper believes a course in balancing your checkbook is more appropriate.

And the dumbing down of America continues.

Um, dear fellow commentors, why is it one or the other? Logan City School District requires all graduates to pass a Financial Literacy class, and of course they don't get out of science or math requirements by doing it (in fact, those core requirements are being made more stringent).

Please resist the urge to jerk your knee. There's plenty of real concerns to be addressed in our schools and society without conjuring fake ones.

And who will teach these finance classes? They probably will be taught by "certificated" instructors with minimal financial or economic background.

We have had several discussions on the math problems, particularly that with Investigations within the ASD, and one of the ideas tossed around was that of a class like Physics to compliment the math education. One of the perveived needs of kids is the usage of math and "what will that do for us in life?" Math in and of itself is nothing but numbers and their manipulation. One must have thae ability to put it with real life situations hence Physics, Accounting, Chemistry and the likes. If one learns Accounting then to balance a check book is already learned. To learn Physics then to extrapolate a check book is nothing but a balancing act. Same as with Chemistry. If you take it even further with calculus then the real power of math comes in. Let's shoot for the stars instead of settling for the cesspool in front of us.

Anyone with the most rudimentary math skills (addition and subtraction) can balance a check book. The problem is that people balance their checkbook with their credit card.

A couple of previous posts noted what I experienced in taking subjects like math, physics and chemistry. By grade 12, these fields tend to come together. In addition, one of your greatest takeaways is the ability to be given a complex problem, to dissect it and solve it. Knowledge of these subjects is also a foundation for more education in the future, which ultimately makes balancing the chequebook much easier if for no other reason than you have more money with which to do it.

I have no beef with adding some financial literacy classes to the school curriculum. In my day we had "accounting" that touched on certain aspects. And we certainly dealt with interest in various math classes. I recall learning a fair bit on the subject from a Scouting merit badge, as well as being taught by my parents, and grandparents. But if someone can put together enough meaningful material to fill an entire semester, go for it.

Spend less than you make, and here is how to calculate the real cost of interest strikes me as about a 3 week merit badge effort, not a dedicated class in HS or even JHS.

But it is tragic and telling that the DesNews editorial staff doesn't think what is learned in physics helps in real life. IF physics (and math, history, and even english/literature) are taught CORRECTLY a big part of what the student learns is to THINK for himself, to solve problems, to research information beyond that which is spoon fed to him in the classroom.

I wonder what response we might expect from this editorial board if we suggested the reading Shakespeare or Hemingway doesn't help with real life.

Speaking of qualified teachers, I am aware of a couple people who have volunteered to teach in the school system, one of whom was a real rocket scientist and offered to teach an applied mathematics class to anyone interested. Pro bono. The school district responded to him and others like him that they aren't qualified to teach because they don't have a teaching certificate. These are real people with real world on the job skills that could have imparted how things really work in the world and they were rejected.

Since a number of posts have mentioned my favorite subject, physics, let me just weigh in that all the foundation skills learned in school accumulate up to the point where you can learn physics. You can't master physics without a very solid foundation in math, and physics to me was the ultimate class because it explained how the world works. I'm an accountant and still constantly rely on what I learned in my physics class to explain things to my children and even once in a while solve an on the job problem.

Oak

Actually, the financial literacy course is a graduation requirement for all Utah students. The editorial was generally correct; however, the writer indicated that the course is optional. It is not. All students who graduate from Utah schools must have completed a financial literacy course.