My relationship with math and science has been a long and tumultuous one, filled with stress, anger and confusion. I am no exception to the article posted here on CNN.com regarding lagging U.S. math and science scores. I have first hand experience with the void of qualified math and science teachers both in lower school and college.
I am a recent graduate from a Virginia state school (names have been removed to protect the institution from blogger backlash) with a degree in Political Science. As a freshman, I was required to take two semesters of calculus and one semester of science. Calculus was 'taught' in a building dubbed The Math Emporium that housed a sea of iMac computers yet seriously lacked a major aspect of education. A teacher. I quickly learned that I would be teaching myself calculus on this computer and would be graded by weekly quizzes. For someone who didn't learn their multiplication table until they were 23, this proved to be a problem. Clearly the U.S. needs to make finding and funding qualified teachers for these subjects a priority, so people like me can mend my troubled relationship with numbers. You can count me out as the next math genius to help the United States compete on a global level.
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The US definitely needs to learn to not solely rely on technology to teach math and sciences. Teachers have been and will continue to be an integral part of the learning process, finding funding for them is beyond crucial.
Very well said, Lauren!