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AskDrCallahan Newsletter May 8, 2007
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in this issue
-- Which calculator do I buy?
-- Why college level math textbooks?
-- Teaching time stewardship
Dear Dale, Greetings! As most of us are closing down one season of schooling we are also finding ourselves ready to plan (or start) the next. While our students are excited about the completion of subjects, they will not understand the joy we have in this event for years to come! Lea and I are now graduating Catrina, our second daughter. A sense of joy and sadness prevails. But, we do have great joy in her struggle to search for where the Lord is leading her next. All subjects aside - this is a success to us! We have been fielding questions from many people on high school math and college entrance. We are working to update the website with some of the answers, but wanted to put few of the common questions we are getting in this newsletter. |
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Which calculator do I buy? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 You need a fast answer?1. If you do not plan to take the ACT buy a TI-89. 2. If you do plan to take the ACT buy a TI-83 plus. Need more information? |
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Why college level math textbooks? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Years ago when I was a new member to the engineering faculty, I had learned that graduation rates in engineering and science had been down in all United States colleges and universities for the past ten years. Much of this us due to high schools not providing adequate training in math, so incoming students often got discouraged and moved into other fields. My curiosity drove me to call the university's math department and ask how students in general did in their calculus courses. The head of the undergraduate program explained that two local high schools outperformed all other students in math. (Both were public schools.) So I went to the math departments of these high schools and I asked what they did that made them better. The primary difference was the use of college level textbooks. The high school faculty explained to me that the textbook publishers (high school level) competed on how easy the problems were to work. The college level publishers would never survive if they watered down the material. High schools that use watered down math material in their textbooks have built a large gulf between high school and university math courses. The few hours we spent at the local high school were convincing - and we as a company have always attempted to use textbooks that were at a college level. Does this mean they are harder? No. Math is math. It is the presentation and the problem set that is the key. The typical high school textbook shows you how to work every type of problem they throw at you. The typical college book tries to teach the student to use the concepts to work a variety of problems. The later approach is education. Also, the later is the skill tested on the ACT and SAT! |
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Teaching time stewardship ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Of all the failures I see on the college campus, I see three very often. First, is the world creeps in, sometimes completely turning students away from the Lord. Second is money trouble. The credit sharks spend fortunes to get the college kids hooked on debt, and statistics show that they are successful - very successful. The third is time. Students have never learned how to manage their time and the result is often missed deliverables and incredible stress which is self inflicted.
Today I want to focus on the time issue. We are told be good stewards of what we have been given - and this includes our time. We are all children of the Lord and we have all been given a task. Some people do this wildly, living in crisis mode. Others seem to move through life accomplishing much and yet at continual peace. I see both of these extremes in the classroom, the boardroom, and the dining room. So what makes the difference? A plan to be an intentional steward of time. Here are some of the key ingredients. |
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: dcallahan@askdrcallahan.com
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