Re: [math-fun] The Case Against Algebra II

Of course, we've seen attempts to put discrete math into the curriculum before. When I was in grade school, it resulted in stupid busywork like computing the Cartesian product of {1,2,3} and {a,b,c}. But hopefully it could be done better. Cris On Nov 15, 2013, at 8:24 AM, Cris Moore <moore@santafe.edu> wrote:

My suggestion would be for some math to be mandatory, but for the curriculum to be designed around getting a sense of how mathematics and mathematical discovery actually works. For instance, I would give them a taste of combinatorics and abstract algebra, where there are interesting and accessible proofs --- the current focus on algebra and calculus is about calculation but hardly ever about proof.