I'm currently in an AP Statistics class (the only statistics class my school offers--and I didn't take it by choice). There's still plenty of "Why does this matter?" in the classroom, and the sad part is, my teacher doesn't know the answer.
She's one of the worst teachers I've ever had, and it's a shame. She definitely does know what she's doing, but she has absolutely no ability to pass that knowledge on effectively. In some ways it's no different than the argument this article makes about more "traditional" high school math classes--except for the great abundance of story problems, with which most students have very little prior experience.
She's one of the worst teachers I've ever had, and it's a shame. She definitely does know what she's doing, but she has absolutely no ability to pass that knowledge on effectively. In some ways it's no different than the argument this article makes about more "traditional" high school math classes--except for the great abundance of story problems, with which most students have very little prior experience.