My Declaration for a New Course

In the first unit of Argument at GCE, we learned about how to properly structure our own arguments. To give us historical context as to have this has been done successfully, we analyze the Declaration of Independence and how the colonists made their argument against King George. For our Action Project, we were asked to write our own declaration for a new course at GCE using the concepts that we have learned. For my declaration, I choose to write about an advanced mathematics course.

LS. (2017) Class Discussion

As much as I’ve loved my time at GCE, there are also some things I would change if I could. One of these things is college readiness and the level of math. Because of the way GCE structures and teaches classes, I feel that many students are not as prepared as they could be for the next step in their academic careers.

I believe that education is not a privilege. Every person in the world deserves the right to know how to have the basic skills to function in a sophisticated society. The purpose of school is to prepare for the future. For some people it’s preparing for a deeper level of education and for others it could be starting their careers. Either way we learn things in school that are essential to all potential paths. I propose a class called advanced mathematics. In this course, students will have a personalized program to propel them to the highest level of math before they graduate. However, the goal of the course is not only to help students learn a higher level of math, but to also help them understand why they are learning it and where they could potentially use it later in life. Also, I hope that after taking this course, student will better understand the reason why they are learning math in school.

Personally, I've always loved doing math. Because of this, I think it's easier for me to understand the true value behind it. I've also been in many situations when applying to a school were certain a certain level of math was needed to apply but I hadn't reached it yet.

A good example of how people in the past used math to be successful is how Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan helped NASA do calculations for their space missions. Not only were these three people women, they were also African American. These women used math to liberate them from the idea that women could not do a "man's" job. Also, while not directly related to math, Phyllis Wheatley tried to promote change in other while her poems. In a way, I'm doing something very similar with this course. Something needs to change with how students think of math at GCE and around the world and I hope this course can help to start to do that.

Guiding Question: How can students use math to prepare for their future?

Course Details:

- The course would be one full term towards the end of senior year. However, in order to prepare for the SAT, the school may choose to teach it to juniors during the winter or spring.

- Most deliverables would not be large assignments. Each piece of homework would be small but focused on ensuring each student retained the information taught each day. New concepts would not be introduced in at home deliverables.

- The resources I would need are as follows: math teacher, classroom, writing materials

p1: Math is used in almost every aspect of your day and knowing more about it can save you money and valuable time. Also, even if you do not decide to go to college, knowing math can get you better paying job positions.

p2: A higher understanding of math can help you get into a better school or further your academic endeavors.

p3: The literal learning of math teaches a discipline of memorization and helps students develop conflict resolution/problem solving skills.

c: Math is an extremely valuable skill to learn for futures may or may not contain academic pursuits.

Overall, this syllogism tries to explain that both the principal of learning math and math itself can be valuable in anybody's life. That math can be valuable not only in the way that many people have viewed it, but in new ways that most high school students don't yet understand.

Usually, when people think of an independent study, they think of one person working alone all the time. However, collaborating with others can eventually lead to you being better as an independent learner. This is because after getting taught by someone else or working with another person, you can better apply the new tools and techniques youve learned to your independent studies.