I teach calculus at Berkeley. Some of my students can't do middle school math

12 pointsposted 8 hours ago
by wyclif

7 Comments

ticulatedspline

7 hours ago

Normally I would expect this to be self-rectifying, that students without the background for the curriculum would cause graduation rates to drop enough to be a problem.

And maybe that's the case but needs more time. More likely (as the article hints) the school will bend it's teaching to get these students through the program, which is short-sighted as it will erode the brand when mediocre graduates enter the workforce.

beardyw

7 hours ago

Not being in the US, what is the qualification for admissions supposed to be. Maybe I missed it. If it's not testing, what is it?

altairprime

7 hours ago

Citing 'severe' math deficits, UC faculty demand a return to SAT tests for STEM (79 days ago, 868 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48309233

There’s no mandatory process; each college can DIY whatever they want, within their system’s restrictions (here, Univ of Cali) if any. For this specific school:

> UC Berkeley is test-free, which means we will not use SAT/ACT test scores in any part of our application process. UC Berkeley has always used, and will continue to use, holistic review

https://admissions.berkeley.edu/apply-to-berkeley/first-year...

bdangubic

7 hours ago

Mom & Dad’s $$$ :)

dlcarrier

5 hours ago

Is that still a thing, or is everyone on student loans, nowadays?

altairprime

7 hours ago

The midterm grade spread in my Precalculus I course this summer was median 70% +/- 30% across all students, with four retakes allowed penalty-free. It was show your work with pencil and paper. The teacher noted that it’s the first time since Covid that no students were caught cheating by Proctorio.

I warned (in a fashion) the head of a college district last year that the “two-year degree” was not long for this world. They were not convinced. Least enjoyable ‘told you so’ ever.

bell-cot

7 hours ago

At some point, folks who object to epic incompetence in government need to focus on where the buck stops:

> The University of California is governed by a twenty-six member Board of Regents, eighteen of whom are appointed by the Governor of California to 12-year terms. The board also has seven ex officio members, a student regent, and a non-voting student regent-designate.[87]

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California%2C_Be...

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_California_gubernatorial_...

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_California#Recall_...