University Subjects At Middle School

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the appropriateness and implications of middle school students taking college-level courses. Participants explore the standards of education, the emotional and mental readiness of younger students for such courses, and the comparison of educational systems in the US and Australia.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that allowing middle school students to take college courses indicates a decline in college standards rather than an increase in student capability.
  • Others express concern about the emotional and mental readiness of middle school students for college-level work, suggesting that such practices may pressure children to grow up too quickly.
  • A participant discusses the structure of college mathematics courses and argues that basic mathematics could be appropriate for middle school students.
  • There is mention of alternative educational pathways, such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which some believe could provide students with advanced standing in college.
  • Concerns are raised about the trend of universities potentially rejecting Advanced Placement (AP) credits, which could affect students' college experiences.
  • Some participants share personal experiences with the IB program, noting its benefits in preparing students for college-level coursework and the possibility of earning college credits.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions on the topic, with no clear consensus. Some agree on the potential benefits of advanced programs, while others strongly oppose the idea of middle school students taking college courses.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight various educational systems and their approaches to advanced coursework, noting differences in acceptance of programs like IB and AP across institutions. There is also mention of the evolving nature of community colleges in relation to remedial education.

  • #31
symbolipoint said:
The result was that after graduation, I still needed to start my course work in college AT Algebra 1 (which was there called, "Elementary Algebra"). Still, doing these same or very similar courses in college insured very good success in these courses.

Interesting approach. What I personally am attracted to is what they do at Harvey Mudd where to be admitted you must do a year of calculus. But they then go through it again at a more advanced level. Its not quite analysis, but you do things like rigorously defining logarithms and exponential's then deriving their properties - things that you do not see at HS (although it could be done, and IMHO should be taught - I well remember being uneasy about this stuff at HS - only with a rigerous treatment did the unease fade). But I am a heretic about teaching things like the trigonometry identities - it should be integrated with calculus - it so easy to prove from Euler's relation the usual methods make me wince a bit. Those that have thought about it may wonder how you prove the differentiation rules of sine and cos without it. If you are interested start another thread and I will explain it - it can be found in that interesting book Calculus Lite.

Thanks
Bill
 
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  • #32
Vanadium 50 said:
They would probably say "lifelong learning" rather than "remedial", but yes, if you are an adult and want to learn about fractions, that's where you would go. A nearby community college offers an even lower class "arithmetic of whole numbers", but it's not for college credit. I think college credit starts around trig.
Yes, and statistics.
 
  • #33
MidgetDwarf said:
Yes, and statistics.
Yes, including that.
The college level courses for the start are these:
Statistics (elementary or introductory), Trigonometry, College Algebra, "Elementary Functions"(or may be called Pre-Calculus).
 
  • #34
It depends on the college. The college in question gives college credit for fractions.

It would be interesting to see which colleges would accept what for transfer credit.
 
  • #35
Vanadium 50 said:
It depends on the college. The college in question gives college credit for fractions.

It would be interesting to see which colleges would accept what for transfer credit.
My understanding is although a college student may earn credit for a remedial course ("fractions", or Basic Arithmetic), it is not counted as transferrable credit for any college (UNIVERSITY level or even A.A.) credit. Yes, the c.c.'s offer remedial Math courses, but they are not college-level. Tell us about any finer points on this.
 
  • #36
That would be what I would hope happens. But I am not sure if, for example, any CC in a state must accept for credit work done at any CC in that state.
 

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