The Misunderstandings of Algebra

Ever since the ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, and India, we have used mathematics. It has guided the advancement of society and it has led to incredible discoveries. However, the amount of math students should learn has become an issue. Almost every well educated person would agree that all students should learn the value of math. By the time students reach the level of algebra, however, we see politicians, the media, students and parents arguing if they should even learn algebra. One of the reasons is that many U.S. students are failing algebra in high school and college. Algebra is the minimum requirement for all students in high school and a basic requirement in college and universities. To ask to change the requirement would mean a big reform to be made and has to be accepted nationwide. As we look at the misunderstandings of algebra, we should look at why it is important and how it applies outside the classroom. If we abandon the advancement of our students in mathematics, we will abandon the advancement of our society as well. To understand why algebra is necessary, we need to first understand what algebra is. Algebra is where we use mathematical statements to express our numerical values (http://cstl.syr.edu). In other words, algebra becomes the beginning of using word problems and letters to solve real life problems. One example of algebra would be looking at the velocity of vehicle to determine the time it would take to arrive from point A to point B. Let’s say the vehicle travels at 65 miles per hour (MPH) constantly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, how much time is needed to arrive to Las Vegas? In algebra, you would look at the problem by identifying what we know and what we need to find out. Setting it up in algebra, we have an equation that says 65T=D, where T is our time and D is our distance is between our two points. Once we