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Geographic Illiteracy in US.

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posted on May, 19 2013 @ 12:16 PM
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reply to post by Malcher
 


Replace it with something that works and I'll agree. It seems to me, people who probably hated the subjects in school when they took them, now run the schools. It's the cheater and slacker approach to education.

Math? Bahh.. Too hard! Calculators for all ..and SUE anyone who argues! (That was what it took for our college to allow them into tests and finals. A student filed law suit demanding calculators be permitted. The school lost)

Reading? Heck.. Literature is for egg heads or something. I'm starting to read the classics that date a little further back then Arthur C. Clarke. School was pulling hard away from anything like that when I was there. Now? Well, when the school has to admit that even 040 reading is TOO advanced for some to get through after 2-3 attempts??? (040 anything is 6th grade level remedial ...and many are carrying newly minted HS Diplomas).

Writing? Heck.. We don't need that. We have keyboards and touch screens. My Studies instructor showed us a precious book she's kept. It's an original school text book from 1887. In it, every page is written by hand print and in cursive writing. I believe it was a general science book, not a writing one. I was a little uncomfortable by having to focus to read some of it ....and embarrassed at classmates who couldn't follow at all.


We go to war in places a % of our citizens...and we're talking EDUCATED citizens...can't even place on a map until the war has been raging for months or more...and we suggest the system isn't totally beyond reform? I can't understand what is left to fix in some ways. It needs torn to pieces and rebuilt. The Old School way.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 01:08 PM
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I was taught geography in school,to be honest I and many others could care less,my ancestor's left Europe for good reason ,any reference in a conversation gets boring very fast,who could blame them



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 01:13 PM
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Well, I imagine teachers could practice shock learning.

For example, deviating from a continuous streak of mathematical lessons to simply asking the class where Russia is on a map (out of the blue.) I don't think we as a society should forget the purpose of schooling. The day is about learning, the week is about learning. The whole year is about learning. But its not just about learning, its about promoting thought and retaining useful information all year long.

This is why I don't bug people about being off topic like some do. Sometimes when people say something considered off sub, its actually on sub, people just cant see the immediate point or connect the dots. The point being there is to have someone look at whats said to think about whether or not its of any value to the subject at hand.

What does russia have to do with math? not a damn thing, but it will matter when that child later has to help in a company trade deal with russia. Where is this shipment going, how much is in the shipment, whats it going to cost, how much is owed, is this shipment legal ect ect. We can incorporate real life value into lesson planning and lesson teaching. You know, that's what schooling is about, learning information that can be used in life.

I don't care personally whether a student uses a calculator, computer or a book, so long as they KNOW and retain the information and are actually able to use that info when necessary.

edit on 19-5-2013 by Nephalim because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 01:25 PM
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Geography is nice to know. Having been all over the world I know it well. However, I know plenty of people who are very smart and they do not. Nor do they care to. In many was way they are right. They have no need to know. I happen to think it would be nice but, I have no real reason why they should be able to find Rwanda on a map.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 01:43 PM
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Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Malcher
 


Replace it with something that works and I'll agree. It seems to me, people who probably hated the subjects in school when they took them, now run the schools. It's the cheater and slacker approach to education.

Math? Bahh.. Too hard! Calculators for all ..and SUE anyone who argues! (That was what it took for our college to allow them into tests and finals. A student filed law suit demanding calculators be permitted. The school lost)

Reading? Heck.. Literature is for egg heads or something. I'm starting to read the classics that date a little further back then Arthur C. Clarke. School was pulling hard away from anything like that when I was there. Now? Well, when the school has to admit that even 040 reading is TOO advanced for some to get through after 2-3 attempts??? (040 anything is 6th grade level remedial ...and many are carrying newly minted HS Diplomas).

Writing? Heck.. We don't need that. We have keyboards and touch screens. My Studies instructor showed us a precious book she's kept. It's an original school text book from 1887. In it, every page is written by hand print and in cursive writing. I believe it was a general science book, not a writing one. I was a little uncomfortable by having to focus to read some of it ....and embarrassed at classmates who couldn't follow at all.


We go to war in places a % of our citizens...and we're talking EDUCATED citizens...can't even place on a map until the war has been raging for months or more...and we suggest the system isn't totally beyond reform? I can't understand what is left to fix in some ways. It needs torn to pieces and rebuilt. The Old School way.


I dont mean replacing schools and I do support teachers. I mean the things we learned and the way we learned are changing. You dont have to be that old to see it and it may not be so bad.

I cannot see why calculators should not be permitted at college level. Reading levels seemed to always be lower than perceived, although i do agree that spell checkers dont help.

I just see things differently than this poll and didnt think the word 'illiterate' was called for. An illiterate cannot read or write.

LINK



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 01:55 PM
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reply to post by Malcher
 

Everything depends on the type of the calculator and the subject.

Using calculator that solves matrices in linear algebra or a calculator which solves integrals in calculus is cheating.

I was only allowed to use simple calculator which only let to * / + - ^ SQRT and sin/cos/tan.

Graphing calculators are disallowed.

Although depends on subject. Subject which is not meant to teach you how to calculate something is okay, although if the subject teaches you calculation, then using calculator is same to cheating.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 02:01 PM
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reply to post by Malcher
 


Indeed... As you note, I agree. If new methods are found to work? Lets have at it. Progress is never a bad thing, when it's been shown to be effective. See test scores lately? Whatever we're doing? Isn't working....it's failed miserably. That's kinda the point. We are trying new things and in getting away from what worked? We're not picking up replacements that do. Sadly, the generations of kids who live the "trial and error" process get to suffer and "make do" when they happened to live through an "error" phase of the experimenting.


Also... Calculators shouldn't be in ANY classroom to replace the fundamentals of Math. It's not a point I brag about, obviously, but Math is my weakest point and always has been. I just finished 040 math to move to 050 in the fall. That consists of starting from the basics. ("The is a fraction. This is a Pizza cut 4 times..and that is 4/4ths. Removing one slice makes 1/4th.) and so on. That is the level of Calculator taught math.

You know what pisses me off though and I'll be writing (More...since I already have written them on this earlier). When you forget the steps to something? I don't care if it's the steps of PEMDAS or working down an equation or what to do if traffic on a road in front of you goes to hell in a split second. You do not think back through everything you've been taught. TRAINING is what takes over.

Wanna know how that works out when you have a final and for whatever reason, the steps aren't popping to mind? "You just need to know how to enter that into a calculator" IS the training...and so, the BEST those who learn this way will ever do or be worth if that calculator isn't handy for immediate help.


I pity the kids learning this way, if they join Foreign Service and actually face a math problem OUTSIDE the land of calculators coming out every ear and open space. Locals will likely find it raging funny that the "Super American" cannot re-write the entire times table by memory and knowledge .....let alone divide a large, odd decimal number into equal parts with a couple other steps required. That is the problem. You're ONLY as good as your training. This training sucks. Outright.


edit on 19-5-2013 by Wrabbit2000 because: minor correction



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 02:04 PM
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Oh, you don't need to know where France is on a map? Okay, I don't need to know what a crocodile looks like, I don't need to be able to point out an octagon, I don't need to be able to tell you that earth orbits the sun, or that christianity is the predominate religion in latin america, that fish have gills, horses have hooves, blah blah.

these are just basic knowledge things that people should know. If you didn't take an interest in learning things because they weren't necessary to know then the human race would be stupid beyond words. I'm not going to fault individuals for what they do or don't know, it's obviously a symptom of a wider issue and individuals can't necessarily be faulted if society has indoctrinated you to be an idiot, but I would say that If you don't want to know about the planet you're living on then there's something not quite right. Correctly wired human beings have curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, why are we on ATS if not for that reason?

Sounds more like what's been offered up by some members is butt hurt excuses/defences.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 02:12 PM
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Not surprising in the least! The classical education is on the skids. No more reading, writing, and arithmatic! Now, it is cartoons, reality television, celebrity worship, gadgets and gizmos, and other junk. As a matter fact, I was talking to some kids at one of our esteemed institutions for higher education, and somehow the conversation led to WWII?

I think the coversation arose from a discussion about the Dr. Kermit Gosnell trial? As things went back and forth, it got on the subject of the Holocaust. These college students had no idea about Auschwitz, or whom Dr. Mengele was? I made a foolish move of making an off-hand comparison between Gosnell, and Dr. Mengele. They had no clue! I was speechless. More than a few of them cannot even put together a simple sentence or even a paragraph. So, not knowing a location on a map is only the tip of the ice-berg. If the education system does not improve? We are doomed! The way the world is upside down these days? Chances are I will probably be working under one of these illiterate flunkies? It is a brave new world out there! Now, let me facepalm.
edit on 19-5-2013 by Jakes51 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 03:10 PM
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Spatial contextual awareness connects contextual information such as an individual’s or sensor’s location, activity, the time of day, and proximity to other people or objects and devices. It is also defined as the relationship between and synthesis of information garnered from the spatial environment, a cognitive agent, and a cartographic map.

Wiki

Which takes us to:

Spatial–temporal reasoning is a field of study in computer science. An emphasis has been on qualitative spatial-temporal reasoning which is based on qualitative abstractions of temporal and spatial aspects of the common-sense background knowledge on which our human perspective of physical reality is based.

Wiki

It is important that you are aware of just where you are on the planet for full functioning and the spatial-temporal part is especially for using a computer, so I don't think the idea of just sitting at a computer without knowing that computer's position is enough. Important for our math abilities the area of relationships and scale that go into algebra, the stuff that helped create your computer in the first place.


edit on 19/5/13 by goldentorch because: Grammar



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 03:19 PM
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Originally posted by Perhaps
... we had stencils of the continents, using a map as a model we'd place them on an A3 sheet, trace around them, pencil in major nation boundries and island nations then yeah, colour them in, name them as well as the oceans/seas.


Yes, we did that. At infant school. When I was about 7 (40 years ago).

I also used to collect stamps when I was a kid - a great way of learning geography and history!

These days, I'm embarassed when I get Ghana and the Gambia mixed up on a 'blank' map ....... Or that I can't remember the capital of Laos.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 03:36 PM
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I can't say much I thought English was the most common language, and making proper sentences is something I'm only now learning to do. Still not sure if I'm putting those damn commas where they belong.

Don't get me started on that show "are you smarter than a 5th grader" those kids are geniuses, I tell you!

The map is a sad story, who hasn't seen a globe?



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 03:54 PM
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Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by Cabin
 


Probably gonna get bashed for this, but what the heck. The people giving these geography tests are probably the only ones that think geography is important. When is the last time anyone took a geography test to get a job? When did anyone need to study years of geography to find a grocery store, or factory, or hospital?

It's just not that important (if at all) in our daily lives.

I know that Iran is in the Middle East. But, why would I need to waste some brain space so that I would be able to stick a pin in its exact location on a map?

How much value is there in learning and remembering that the population of Timbuktu is 5,000 or a gazillion?

I still believe that it is not important to know stuff, rather it is exceedingly important to know how to find it when you need it. I can't tell you how many times my acquaintances go around asking questions (and not getting the answers), when they all have computers at home that are on-line!



Maybe you managed to miss it, but the questions clearly were biased towards things that were of significance for Americans, yet the population in other countries did a better job at it.
While it's true that unnecessary information is unnecessary, these questions were not much more difficult than "what color is milk?", given that the person has had some experience of "milk" in the past.
As an inhabitant of earth, and happening to live in a country that interacts with a number of other countries, the answers to these questions should be as obvious, if only one had kept the eyes open.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 04:00 PM
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Originally posted by beezzer

Originally posted by rickymouse
I'm not good at maps. I can never find Atlantis on a map, no matter how hard I try to find it.


Atlantis is in Georgia.



I didn't know Atlantis was in Eurasia...kwel! LULZ!



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 04:15 PM
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Have no fear poeple!

I will be the intellectual savior of the unwashed masses.

...YOUR WELCOME!

/sarcasm lol


The scary part about that is thier are poeple in academia who feel that way, and others who accept it. Yes, geography is important. It is important to know where our trade comes from, whrere are allies live, where the trouble makers are. It's about being empowered intellectually. Critical thinking does not work without a base knowledge skill set.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 04:46 PM
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reply to post by Perhaps
 


I had not seen that map before and it is really funny.


Kudos



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 05:06 PM
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This was 10 years ago, probably even worse now. They don't know squat about geography, history, economics, however they do know all the dance moves to the Wobble.



posted on May, 19 2013 @ 09:05 PM
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this is scary i have spoken to 18 year olds who do not know what a decade is we must be breeding them stupid these days and it is not just in the u.s



posted on May, 20 2013 @ 01:57 AM
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I have a globe. A "flat" screen just can't do that justice. When I am teaching my young nephew about planets and space and why the "sun doesn't rise, the earth turns", he learns a lot better from 3d real world demonstrations than "on line". Helps him visualize. I love it when his eyes go big and he gets those ah-hah moments. Then he asks the next question and the next...

For those that think the worlds geography is not that important? The world has not changed in millennia. The same mountain passes, water and terrain obstacles have influenced the movement of armies since time began. Knowing something about history and geography does help to understand how current history is playing out when it comes to conquering nations and empire building.

If you need a refresher or two get some friends together and play a couple hundred games of Risk.



posted on May, 20 2013 @ 02:19 AM
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The sad thing is that today, we finally have the tools that can make all the difference in education, but they are not being used that way. Imagine (and I date myself in the process) if we had these tools 40 years ago. Remember going to the Library and spending a half hour looking up some obscure fact?

I would make it mandatory that all schools elementary on up, provide a tablet, and all school books were downloadable. Printing paper school books and endlessly publishing them are one of the most wasteful and costly line items in the educational ledger.

Internet access in school could be limited to educational content or hosted by a system that would only provide educational content. We are wasting kids away, because we have provided a technology that is programmed to distract them rather than educate them. We need legislation and leadership to make this happen as soon as possible, IMO.



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