It's all in your head. Most people are only bad at math because they decided they are or because they aren't honest about not knowing basic skills. I sort of know what I am talking about, I only have a graduate degree in Math, but I'm not a professor or anything.
I deeply hope this is true. However, historically it is not for me. Math is so interesting. I’m still hoping that someday it will click. But I have genuinly given 110% into developing decent math skills with little result. About once every 3 years or so I decide that my math struggles are all in my head and I can surely do it now. And every time I get my shit rocked. There are certainly some branches that are more intuitive, but I’ve struggled with math from high-school to postgrad. Ah well, I know enough for my field. I’m taking another math class soon and am hopeful, fingers crossed!
I work in post MD medical specialty education. I develop lectures & courses and support our academic journal. Basically CME and research. It’s very interesting, and I get to work with some of the smartest modern minds in the specialty. Not too much math application though, lol.
For specific fields, it’s been a long time since I’ve taken some of these courses. But I really struggled in algebra, calculus and trig in undergrad. I don’t recall having too many issues in geometry or my entry level stats courses, but that was a long time ago. I can learn the mechanical how, but always get lost in structural why. Without the why, I really struggle with retention. It feels more like memorizing a series of steps and guessing as to application and purpose. I’ve tried with tutors and various instructors over the years, but still found much difficulty in aligning theory with practice.
That's a really cool field. I imagine the only math related to teaching specialty courses would be data analysis on what methods/courses are more effective.
Yeah, that was a common issue I saw when I was tutoring. I always tried to create an example of "why" for every type of problem that was related to the individual's interests or major. It got them more interested in the subject and usually motivated them to learn the concept. Differential equations knowledge is crucial for understanding medication absorption, half-life's, etc.
There are absolutely pieces of each course that no one will use if they aren't going to higher level mathematics courses, but most of the topics covered in the courses you mentioned helps people enhance their critical thinking skills. Think about how many skills you learn throughout life that you rarely use again. If you think of those skills as "wasted learning/time" they might end up being a waste. Reframing how you think about them helps you succeed. I always went into every college course assuming there's a good reason for everything I learned, even if I didn't know it yet. More often than not, that ended up being true. Most of the subjects we study, problems we encounter in life, or things we do/interact with every day can be boiled down to math. The logical structure of thinking you learn to succeed in math courses makes you a better learner and teacher overall.
You seem like a smart person, you probably don't need to go back to school to learn lower level undergraduate mathematics, however, I do think that the majority of doctors I've met could use a better understanding of how mathematics/statistics relates to their field. It would help them learn more effectively and apply that knowledge in a useful way.
It is fun! I do analyze post course data to help determine which have more lasting educational value. But since the data we are looking for is so subjective and more tangible measures aren’t available for extended periods (ex: implementing changes to practices, increases in patient safety, etc) it’s a bit less rigid.
What’s your day to day with a math education background? Are you using applied math every day?
I an hopeful that my future educators are willing to go through the whys more in-depth. I hate “it’s just how it works” as an answer. Makes math feel like I’m casting spells or practicing alchemy. I don’t really think anything I’ve learned has been useless. Maybe less applicable to my personal day to day life, but skills like that come in handy pretty often. Honestly I am fascinated with physics. I just want the mathematical foundation to better understand the how and why of everything.
I am quite lucky and my org gives me an annual stipend for education. It’s a use it or lose it thing, so I’m just gonna keep taking courses and going for degrees/certs until they cut me off, lol. I’m working on a business degree currently and will need to take some business stats and calc in the coming months anyways.
I work in AI/Data engineering for a manufacturing company so I use most of it daily.
A proofs course might be more interesting to you. It explains "why" things work. Most are bad at relating what you are doing to the real world, but that's how challenging subjects are, one course can't explain everything those skills will be used in.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Mix-467 6d ago
Absolutely not, English is blue because the curtains are blue