Is College Algebra a remedial math course?

[DCal430]

I am not talking more advance Abstract or Modern Algebra, or even Linear Algebra, but a class that is before PreCalculus that is found in many colleges.

I also thought this was a remedial math class, but apparently some colleges are actually giving students credit towards graduation for this class.

So do you think it is a remedial math class?

 

[Printer Bandit]

yes, most people probably learn that in 10th grade.

 

[Mixolydian]

I dunno, I never made it to college.

 

[mnewsham]

yes, most people probably learn that in 10th grade.

My problem was I had it back in 7th grade so by the time I was in freshman year of college 90% of it was gone or fading fast.

 

[DCal430]

I find it so sad how many students are being placed into this class, and now many colleges feel the need to give them credit for it. Sad really.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I find it so sad how many students are being placed into this class, and now many colleges feel the need to give them credit for it. Sad really.

Nothing new: if they're a non-engineering/science/math/etc. major, Pre-Calc will usually fulfill the math requirement.

Heck, that was all I took in high school (12th grade pre-calc / intro-to-stats) and I scored high enough on the SAT to place out of a math requirement altogether.

 

[Leymenaide]

yes

 

[highland145]

I find it so sad how many students are being placed into this class, and now many colleges feel the need to give them credit for it. Sad really.

Way back, Clemson let me take linear algebra for 4 credit hours. I was a senior engineering student.:sneaky:

 

[fatpat268]

Sad part is, when I tutored math in college, most students weren't even competent enough to start in College Algebra. A lot ended up dropping the class and enrolling in another remedial class below College Algebra.

 

[Vdubchaos]

In America, Algebra is taught from Middle school thru College.

Same shit OVER AND OVER again.

Back in Europe we had Algebra for exactly 1 year, in 3rd or 4th grade. When I moved to US,I remember almost falling off my chair when I seen "A+7=20" in Math......and fact that most kids still didn't get it.

Really sad

 

[DCal430]

What happen, it was like this even when I started University. When I went to University, I started in the first Calculus class that other Math or Enginering type majors took, but I knew so many who had to take PreCalculus or even "College Algebra" first, and most seem to get this strange idea that I was being advance, and they were typical. So sad.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I'm a chemist and I probably would have a hard time with advanced algebra/trig right now, I haven't used that crap in 10 years.

 

[Jimzz]

My college tested for it. I tested out and went to Trig then Calculus and that was all the pure math class's I was in.

 

[Binarycow]

If it's offered as a 1000 level course then no, it's not remedial. On the other hand, if it's a zero thousand level course then it's remedial. I have never seen college algebra offered anywhere as a zero thousand level course though.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Sad part is, when I tutored math in college, most students weren't even competent enough to start in College Algebra. A lot ended up dropping the class and enrolling in another remedial class below College Algebra.

Algebra is not required for HS graduation in most areas.

So people entering college (2 or 4 yr) may not have the common skills needed.
therefore ramp-up classes are needed to ensure everyone is on the common baseline by the time they hit the 2nd or 3rd year of an equivalent 4 yr program.

Some 4 yr programs may not require more than one more year of math.

You do not want the remedial people in the normal program due to holding back the curriculum do to lack of understanding.

 

[Midwayman]

Absolutely remedial. In the US you should have had it by the 10th grade. I think I took it in 6th. Of course If I wanted to go back into a science/math major after not using it for 20+ years I'd probably need to retake algebra.

 

[Crusty]

Nothing new: if they're a non-engineering/science/math/etc. major, Pre-Calc will usually fulfill the math requirement.

Heck, that was all I took in high school (12th grade pre-calc / intro-to-stats) and I scored high enough on the SAT to place out of a math requirement altogether.

What school did you go to that gave you credit for SAT scores? I always thought you had to take an AP exam to get college credit.

 

[uclaLabrat]

What school did you go to that gave you credit for SAT scores? I always thought you had to take an AP exam to get college credit.

I think testing out of something is different then getting credit. We had the same thing, I was able to test out of pre-calc I think it was, but I didn't get credit for actually taking the course, I was just allowed to take the next highest level.

I passed the Chem AP exam but wasn't allowed to get credit for gen chem since chemistry was my major, I still had to take that class.

 

[JTsyo]

In America, Algebra is taught from Middle school thru College.

Same shit OVER AND OVER again.

Back in Europe we had Algebra for exactly 1 year, in 3rd or 4th grade. When I moved to US,I remember almost falling off my chair when I seen "A+7=20" in Math......and fact that most kids still didn't get it.

Really sad

You can't have elementary school kids solving polynomials (it's still algebra) or multi-variable algebra. The range of algebra is large enough that you have to learn other fundamentals before you can apply it to algebra. You can't learn it all in one year.

 

[EagleKeeper]

In America, Algebra is taught from Middle school thru College.

Same shit OVER AND OVER again.

Back in Europe we had Algebra for exactly 1 year, in 3rd or 4th grade. When I moved to US,I remember almost falling off my chair when I seen "A+7=20" in Math......and fact that most kids still didn't get it.

Really sad

Many countries also have a different grade level system than the US
Plus advanced students are plucked out early and put into seperate system completely that are isolated. from the general public educational system

 

[Bateluer]

I'm going to say no, since the algebra taught in middle school isn't the same class I took in CC.

 

[jaedaliu]

Many countries also have a different grade level system than the US
Plus advanced students are plucked out early and put into seperate system completely that are isolated. from the general public educational system

We didn't have this! (or maybe I wasn't advanced?) What we did have, was 1 of my friends testing out of 7th grade math, then 10 of us said. "wait, HE tested out? I'm smarter than him!" and we all did the same thing and skipped a year of math.

To answer the original question: College is different for everyone. At least they're graduating with algebra. It could be worse.

 

[slightlyhuman]

You can't have elementary school kids solving polynomials (it's still algebra) or multi-variable algebra. The range of algebra is large enough that you have to learn other fundamentals before you can apply it to algebra. You can't learn it all in one year.

you don't know vdubchaos then.... if he said it, it's true.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Well, our university has simple Chemistry courses, before it's broken up into organic and inorganic (largely) chemistry. They're not really remedial, but they are really easy, they're for people who never took chemistry at high school. Though I guess elementary maths is compulsory...

Maybe it's for people who are coming back to university after not being at school for years or decades and who need a refresher or something.

You can't have elementary school kids solving polynomials (it's still algebra) or multi-variable algebra. The range of algebra is large enough that you have to learn other fundamentals before you can apply it to algebra. You can't learn it all in one year.

Why not? My parents started trying to teach me algebra when I was 6 or 7, if they'd been better at teaching I might actually have gotten there before I started high school.

FYI, it's a good idea to actually explain why when A + 7 = 20 you get A = 13, rather than saying "just because, you need to learn it".

 

[SheHateMe]

We have a College Algebra class here, 1825. You can get a grade for it, but the credits do not count towards the major.

The class is also $1500, they only put credits on it so people know how much it costs. All of the sections of this class are always full. So, maybe people just need a refresher?