Even at CalTech–the institution that was in constant competition with MIT for the best of the best budding scientific minds. I say was because:
Caltech drops calculus, chemistry, physics class requirements if your school doesn’t offer them, allowing you to take Khan Academy instead.
The author does make a salient point that CalTech has never before acknowledged the fact that a lot of schools do not offer advanced classes in those subjects (or even the subjects at all). This would include small rural schools as well as urban schools. So offering a path forward for those students could be a good thing.
Especially considering this fact:
George Mason University said an alarming number of students were arriving with gaps in their math skills, and fewer students are getting into calculus — the first college-level course for some majors — and more are failing. Students who fall behind often disengage, disappearing from class.
“This is a huge issue,” Maria Emelianenko, chair of George Mason’s math department, told The Associated Press. “We’re talking about college-level pre-calculus and calculus classes, and students cannot even add one-half and one-third.”
Of course they are blaming the pandemic, and in this case it’s probably correct. Online classes are hard, much harder than in person–a truth that’s not often spoken about.
Especially for younger people.
It also goes to the base issue of insisting on college for all students. Which is not the case. Maybe this will help them find their way into the trades instead of heavy debt with a degree in 14th century French literature.
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