Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!

Translator: Christo Crafford Reviewer: Ingrid Lezar

Now, if President Obama

Sou President Obama

invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,

my nooi om die volgende Tsar van Wiskunde te wees,

then I would have a suggestion for him

sou ek ’n voorstel aan hom maak

that I think would vastly improve

wat ek dink ’n reuse verbetering sou maak

the mathematics education in this country.

aan wiskunde-opvoeding in die VSA.

And it would be easy to implement

Dit sou maklik wees om te implementeer,

and inexpensive.

sonder groot onkoste.

The mathematics curriculum that we have

Ons bestaande wiskunde-kurrikulum

is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.

is op rekenkunde en algebra gebaseer.

And everything we learn after that

En alles wat ons daarna leer

is building up towards one subject.

bou op na een vak toe.

And at top of that pyramid, it's calculus.

Die toppunt van die piramiede is differensiasie en integrasie.

And I'm here to say

Ek is hier om te sê

that I think that that is the wrong summit of the pyramid ...

dat ek dink dit die verkeerde toppunt vir die piramiede is ...

that the correct summit -- that all of our students,

en dat die korrekte piek, wat al ons leerders --

every high school graduate should know --

elke hoërskoolleerder -- behoort te verstaan,

should be statistics:

statistiek behoort te wees:

probability and statistics.

waarskynlikheid en statistiek.

(Applause)

(Applous)

I mean, don't get me wrong. Calculus is an important subject.

Moet my nie verkeerd verstaan nie.

Integrasie-rekenkunde is belangrik.

It's one of the great products of the human mind.

Dis ’n groot prestasie van die menslike intellek.

The laws of nature are written in the language of calculus.

The natuurwette is in die taal van integrasie-rekenkunde geskryf.

And every student who studies math, science, engineering, economics,

En elke student wat wiskunde, wetenskap, ingenieurswese of ekonomie studeer

behoort beslis integrasie-rekenkunde

they should definitely learn calculus

tydens hulle eerste jaar op universiteit te leer.

by the end of their freshman year of college.

But I'm here to say, as a professor of mathematics,

Maar ek is hier, as ’n wiskundeprofessor, om te sê,

that very few people actually use calculus

dat bitter min mense werklik integrasie-rekenkunde

in a conscious, meaningful way, in their day-to-day lives.

bewus en betekenisvol in hul daaglikse lewens gebruik.

On the other hand,

Statistiek is egter ’n vak wat jy daagliks

statistics -- that's a subject that you could,

and should, use on daily basis. Right?

kan en behoort te gebruik. Nè?

It's risk. It's reward. It's randomness.

Dis risiko. Dis vergoeding. Dis willekeurigheid.

It's understanding data.

Dis die verstaan van data.

I think if our students, if our high school students --

Ek dink as ons leerders, as ons hoërskoolleerders --

if all of the American citizens --

as alle Amerikaanse burgers --

knew about probability and statistics,

waarskynlikheid en statistiek geken het,

we wouldn't be in the economic mess that we're in today. (Laughter) (Applause)

sou ons nie nou in hierdie ekonomiese verknorsing gewees het nie.

Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...

Nie net -- dankie -- nie net dit nie ...

but if it's taught properly, it can be a lot of fun.

[maar ook] korrek aangebied, kan dit baie pret wees.

I mean, probability and statistics,

Ek bedoel, waarskynlikheid en statistiek,

it's the mathematics of games and gambling.

dis die wiskunde van speletjies en dobbel.

It's analyzing trends. It's predicting the future.

Dis die ontleding van tendense. Dis toekomsvoorspelling.

Look, the world has changed

Kyk, die wêreld het verander,

from analog to digital.

van analoog na digitaal.

And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change

En dis tyd dat ons wiskunde-kurrikulum om te verander,

from analog to digital,

van analoog na digitaal.

from the more classical, continuous mathematics,

Van die meer klassieke, aaneenlopende wiskunde,

to the more modern, discrete mathematics --

na die meer moderne, spesifieke wiskunde.

the mathematics of uncertainty,

Die wiskunde van onsekerheid,

of randomness, of data --

van willekeurigheid, van data --

that being probability and statistics.

dit is waarskynlikheid en statistiek.

In summary, instead of our students

Om op te som, instede daarvan dat leerders

learning about the techniques of calculus,

die tegnieke van integrasie-rekenkunde leer,

I think it would be far more significant

sou dit veel betekenisvoller wees, as hulle almal sou weet

if all of them knew what two standard deviations

wat twee standaardafwykings van die gemiddeld beteken.

from the mean means. And I mean it.

En ek sal nie daarvan afwyk nie!

Thank you very much.

Baie dankie.

(Applause)

(Applous)