Peter Johnson Fallacy

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Peter Johnson, a political scientist, and Lynn Arthur Steen, a mathematician, present their argument against the relevance of algebra from the perspective of the typical talented individual who has not a care or need for complex mathematics. This individual, therefore, does not see how learning complex math concepts would be beneficial to his/her career. Johnson and Steen base their arguments on a typical fallacy believed by many mathematicians and the blinded general public. This fallacy is the “far transfer concept”. And through conclusions based on psychological research and educational research regarding algebras long-run effects on students and the populace as a whole, Johnson and Steen have come up with the conclusion that there is …show more content…

According to Steen (2012), “because it dominates high school mathematics, algebra is clearly the lightening rod for general complaints about school mathematics” (p. 2). This means that algebra is what is being inferred when referring to mathematics because it is the “mathematics” that high school students are forced to learn. The major complaint here is that mathematics is used as a “yard stick” for students’ academic progression, with standardized tests being imposed on the students, and talents being wasted due to an inability to pass a math course. The clear notion being passed by Steen is that math is not for everyone. However, academia’s like Daniel Willingham and Rishawn Biddle believe that “the very skills involved in reading (including understanding abstract concepts) are also involved in algebra and other complex mathematics” (Why Algebra Matters, 2012, para. 4). With this belief, they conclude that student’s inability to pass math is due to their laziness and lack of will to learn. In contrast to this point of mathematics and literacy being similar, and students failure being due to their boxed minds and laziness, Dudley (2010) states that …show more content…

Each course requires its own unique form of mathematics which is usually not taught in classrooms” (p. 3). He also garnishes his argument by stating that “the traditional high school mathematics curriculum, which was designed for higher level math courses is not useful for a majority of the students. And, even if it did work, the tools it provides are not those best suited to the quantitative needs of engaged citizens in our data-drenched society (p. 3).” So with this, he creates a larger argument, that the main issue is not just the fact that the algebra being taught is nearly impossible to transfer, but that the mathematics taught to students is unnecessary and

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