It was only a very few years ago that the United States was the world leader in computer technology. Many thought that leadership would last for a long time. That is not the case. Japan has caught up with us rather quickly on the technology, and several other nations are getting close. Now it looks like we are being bypassed in the teaching of computer skills and problem-solving.
The 2006 Association for Computing Machinery's International Collegiate Programming Contest just ended in San Antonio. This was the 30th annual competition held, and the results don't look very good for the U.S. this year. Contestants competed in 3-man teams, and were given 5 hours to solve 10 extremely complex problems. The winning team solved 6 of the problems correctly in the 5 hour time limit.
The winners of the competition were students from Russia's Saratov State University. Yes, you heard that right. Russian students demonstrated the best problem-solving skills. They were awarded a trophy, $10,000 scholarship, and computer equipment from IBM. But it gets even worse. There were three runner-up gold medals awarded, none to Americans. These were earned by the University of Twente [Netherlands], Altai State Technical University [Russia], and Jagiellonian University of Krakow [Poland]. The U.S. team from MIT did share a silver medal with teams from China and Russia.
Why did our students not do better? It's not intelligence. All nations have their share of intelligent people. The problem is EDUCATION! Since the right-wing evangelicals have been in power, our schools have suffered. They have shown a singular lack of respect for public education, especially in the areas of math and science. They denigrate the sciences daily and are interjecting their religion into our classrooms. While we are trying to force religion on our students, the rest of the world is embracing science and making sure their students are properly taught. It is no wonder they are passing us in fields that we used to own.
As long as we teach myth instead of science, our schools, our business, and our country will continue to suffer, and we will slide further behind the rest of the world. All the praying in the world will not solve this problem. The only answer is a proper scientific education devoid of all myth.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has been the place to get excellent scientists on the cheap. This contest seems to show they are not neglecting their universities as their economy still sputters. You cannot say the same about Texas or most other states in the U.S..
ReplyDeleteI'd agree that the problem is education, but blaming it on Replublicans or religion just doesn't "compute."
ReplyDeletePlease recall that the quality of primary and secondary education has been on the decline in the US for far longer than the right has been in power, and Religous schools have been turning out better prepared kids all along.
bob - thanks for dropping by. I didn't blame it on religion, but on forcing religion into science classes. I believe everyone should should be able to worship as they please, just keep it out of science class.
ReplyDeleteAs for republicans, I have heard a multitude of attacks on science from them repeatedly since they came to power. They have also cut vital funds for education, such as Pell grants. I believe they have to bear their share of the blame.
I have to disagree about the religious schools. There are some good ones, but there are also some very bad ones, just like the public schools. Public or religious, good schools teach real science.
The ascent of the religious right just gave emphasis to a historical anti-intellectual sentiment that has pervaded US culture for a century or more.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching a Florida demonstration on the news about 20 years ago where parents were demonstrating against "the new math" (set theory), carrying signs with such enlightened messages on them like: If the old math was good enough for me, its good enough for my kids."
And I think you can pin much of that anti-intellectual sentiment on religions whose tenets clearly call for a trust in faith over thought. That sort thing has existed for centuries. The so called Age of Reason was really somewhat of an historical anomaly that re-asserts itself now and then, but has yet to take root in any enduring way among the masses.
The major cause though of bad education is lack of proper funding and mediocre teachers who are required by the school system to example middle class values uber alles.
cul -
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the anti-intellectual attitude, and I'd agree that the single best thing we could do for our schools would be to fund them adequately. However, I believe the republicans[with their lies about science] and the evangelicals [with their hatred of science] are having a detrimental effect on our schools that has accelerated since the republicans came to power.
Sorry cul -
ReplyDeleteAfter re-reading my comment, it sounds like I was disagreeing with you. I wasn't. I was just trying to give the modern right wing their fair share of the blame.