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what it shows is that we have a generation of kids who are good are solving math problems that LOOK EXACTLY LIKE the ones in the book, but haven’t learned the visualize numbers, or think mathematically, in a way that allows them to solve NEW problem structures.</p>
<p>This is not a problem only at Tulane, but, as I mentioned in my above post, in high schools and colleges across the board.</p>
<p>this is a consequence of kids who plan to be history, or Linguistic, or English majors feeling forced to take Calculus in high school to impress adcoms at elite universities… and when high school and college calculus courses are 80% full of kids who are taking it only because they feel it is compulsory, and do not naturally think mathematically, you end up with classes full of kids who rote memorize static methods of solving problems presented in a book. Change the problem even minimally, and the rote method doesn’t work.</p>