Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!purdue!tlh
From: tlh@cs.purdue.EDU (Thomas L. Hausmann)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Reducing class size said waste
Message-ID: <3762@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Date: 5 Apr 88 16:45:15 GMT
References: <882@nuchat.UUCP>
Sender: news@cs.purdue.EDU
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Purdue University
Lines: 34
Summary: Suggestions?

In article <882@nuchat.UUCP>, elg@nuchat.UUCP (Eric Green) writes:
> 
  
> ---------
> Commentary: If we continue to teach our children using the same
> old outdated methods that we've been using for the past 50-80 years,
> class size could be FIVE and still not be "low enough".
> 
> Eric Green  uunet!nuchat!elg


    What suggestions do you have to offer in this regard?  We may have beaten
    the calculator in the classroom business to death...but there should be
    some other things we can discuss.

    To me the biggest problems facing our schools are apathetic students and
    parents (read:  if parents (when around) don't give a damn about their children's
    education the kids won't either) and math-phobic elementary teachers.  
    NOTE:  The first problem is a SOCIAL issue with all sorts of causes.
    
    Also, a public high school I know about had a parents organization attempt
    to oust the principal because the (get this) ATHLETIC TEAMS were not up to their
    satisfaction.  Now this school had several Nationl Merit Finalists in the years
    that I went to college in that town. (Small town, 5500 people)

    Eric, I agree with you that class size is not the answer, but you over 
    simplify things claiming "outdated methods" is a causal factor.

    -Tom

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Hausmann       Dept. of Computer Sciences     Purdue University
tlh@mordred.cs.purdue.edu    | My ideas?  There has never been an original
...!purdue!tlh               | thought since Plato.