Every course in American high schools is divided into four grades: academic, honor, AP preparatory course and AP, and the difficulty of AP is increasing in turn. As long as the content is everything in our high school, they also learn. It's just that they divide mathematics into several plates, trigonometric function, algebra 1, algebra 2, geometry 1, geometry 2, trigonometric function and preparatory calculus. If you choose AP course, you must study calculus in university and take the exam at the end of the year. If you pass, you can get college credits. Of course, this is more difficult. If it is academic and honor, it is equivalent to the difficulty of our junior high school. The level before AP is similar to that of our high school, maybe a little simpler, but the content of AP course is not available in our high school, so we should learn it thoroughly.
It is not difficult to see from the mathematics curriculum in American high schools that, just like western movies, a perfect grading system will naturally give students with different mathematical foundations and interests the right to choose freely, so as to get the development that suits them best. As we all know, China people also relish the simplicity of American mathematics. In fact, it is not difficult to see from the above situation of American mathematics curriculum that American mathematics is not simple, but our understanding of it is too simple. Indeed, for students with average or poor basic knowledge in American high schools, academics and honors are what they need to master. From this point of view, it is not as difficult as our high school mathematics. But for American high school students who have brains and are interested in good math foundation, their goal is AP, and the content of AP is not involved in our domestic high schools. In other words, even some of the best students in domestic high schools have difficulty in mastering more mathematics knowledge than their counterparts in American high schools. As a high school student in China and a learner of AP course, I really realized this difference. For an American student who really wants to study, AP can be regarded as a challenging course, which is why AP scores can be used as a reference for admission to American universities. Therefore, it is unreasonable to say that American students are not as good at math as China students.
Compared with the domestic high school mathematics curriculum, although students have a certain space of independent choice after the curriculum reform, on the whole, students are still taught and learned by teachers. In a class, both students with good grades and students with poor math foundation are basically studying at the same pace and with the same difficulty requirements. Perhaps some content is beyond their understanding and acceptance, but progress waits for no one, which naturally widens the gap between students. And Americans have always had an idea called. Math idiot? Most of them think that learning mathematics requires a kind of talent, so many students will be assigned to slower classes from the time they enter school if they don't realize their great interest and talent in mathematics from an early age. In this case, there will be a rumored situation. They are still learning addition and subtraction in junior high school, and the classes in the school are divided into five levels. In this way, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude is well realized, and students with poor foundation can learn advanced theories without suffering because they don't understand the teaching content. Of course, I am noncommittal about this idea, but it is undeniable that this is one of the reasons why China students have strong mathematics ability in high school, but they can't lead the world in mathematics after going to college.
The above discussion is only one aspect of the differences between Chinese and American mathematics education, that is, a classification and stratification. According to the concept of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, the average math ability of American high school students is not as good as that of China students to some extent. But in fact, think about it carefully. If you are not a math major, how much math knowledge can you use in your later life? You learned a lot and finally forgot it in society. American high school mathematics not only teaches American students the necessary mathematical skills and survival concept, but also provides students with outstanding mathematical ability with opportunities to obtain high-quality and in-depth mathematical learning. Education in China hopes to cultivate all-rounders, but this is unrealistic. In the end, the elite trained by mathematics may not have an advantage in the competition with American students.
The above is an introduction to American high school students studying abroad about the differences between China and the United States in American high school mathematics curriculum. I hope it will be helpful for China students to adapt to American high schools as soon as possible.
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