Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!

Translator: Schubert Malbas Reviewer: Polimar Balatbat

Now, if President Obama

Ngayon, kung si Pangulong Obama

invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,

ay aanyayahin ako na maging susunod na Tsar ng Matematika,

then I would have a suggestion for him

meron akong suhestiyon sa kanya

that I think would vastly improve

na sa palagay ko ay magpapayabong

the mathematics education in this country.

sa sistema ng edukasyon ng matematika sa bansang ito.

And it would be easy to implement

Madali lang itong isakatuparan

and inexpensive.

at hindi gagastos ng malaki.

The mathematics curriculum that we have

Sa ngayon, ang kurikulum ng matematika

is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.

ay batay sa aritmetika at algebra.

And everything we learn after that

At lahat ng mga napagaralan natin

is building up towards one subject.

ay bilang paghahanda sa iisang asignatura.

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

Nasa tuktok ng tatsulok na ito ang calculus.

And I'm here to say

At nandito ako upang sabihin

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

na mali ang pinili nating tugatog ng piramide ...

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

na ang tunay na rurok -- na dapat alam ng bawat mag-aaral,

every high school graduate should know --

ng lahat ng gagradweyt ng haiskul --

should be statistics:

ay estatistika:

probability and statistics.

mga paksang kalagmitan (probabilidad) at estatistika.

(Applause)

(Palakpakan)

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

'Wag niyo sanang masamain. Mahalaga ang calculus.

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

Isa ito sa mga pinakamahusay na inimbento ng tao.

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

Naiintindihan natin ang kalikasan gamit ang calculus.

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

At bawat mag-aaral ng sipnayan, agham, inhinyeriya, ekonomika,

they should definitely learn calculus

dapat alam ang calculus

by the end of their freshman year of college.

pagkatapos ng unang taon sa kolehiyo.

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

Ngunit andito upang sabihin na, bilang isang propesor ng matematika,

that very few people actually use calculus

iilang tao lang ang gumagamit ng calculus

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

sa bawat araw, sa makabuluhan at kusang mga bagay.

On the other hand,

Sa kabilang banda,

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

ang estatistika -- isang asignatura na maaari,

and should, use on daily basis. Right?

at marapat, gamitin araw-araw. Tama?

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

Ito'y pagtukoy sa panganib, sa gantimpala, sa walang kasiguraduhan.

It's understanding data.

Ito'y tungkol sa pag-intindi ng datos.

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

Sa tingin ko, kung sana bawat mag-aaral sa haiskul --

if all of the American citizens --

kung sana lahat ng mga taga-Amerika --

knew about probability and statistics,

alam ang probabilidad at estatistika,

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

hindi siguro magkakagulo ang ekonomiya natin ngayon.

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

Hindi lang -- salamat -- hindi lang 'yon ...

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

[pero] kung wasto ang paraan ng pagtuturo nito, maaaring maging kasiya-siya ito.

I mean, probability and statistics,

Kung tutuusin, ang probabilidad at estatistika,

it's the mathematics of games and gambling.

ay ang lengwahe ng paglalaro at pagsusugal.

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

Tungkol ito sa pag-arok ng mga nagaganap at ng hinaharap.

Look, the world has changed

Nagbago na ang mundo

from analog to digital.

mula analog patungong digital.

And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change

Panahon na upang palitan natin ang kurikulum ng matematika

from analog to digital,

sa digital mula sa analog.

from the more classical, continuous mathematics,

Mula sa makalumang 'continuous mathematics',

to the more modern, discrete mathematics --

tungo sa makabagong 'discrete mathematics.'

the mathematics of uncertainty,

Ang sipnayan ng walang katiyakan

of randomness, of data --

ng mga datos --

that being probability and statistics.

'yon bilang pag-aaral ng probabilidad at estatistika.

In summary, instead of our students

Sa paglalagom, sa halip na nagsasanay

learning about the techniques of calculus,

ang mga estudyante ng calculus,

I think it would be far more significant

tingin ko'y mas mainam

if all of them knew what two standard deviations

kung kabisado nila ang ibig sabihin ng

from the mean means. And I mean it.

"two standard deviations from the mean". Seryoso ako.

Thank you very much.

Maraming salamat po.

(Applause)

(Palakpakan)