Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!

譯者: chufung dou 審譯者: Adrienne Lin

Now, if President Obama

現在，假如歐巴馬總統

invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,

邀請我擔任下一個數學教育總管

then I would have a suggestion for him

我將對他提個建議

that I think would vastly improve

我認為將會大幅改善

the mathematics education in this country.

國內的數學教育

And it would be easy to implement

而且可以很容易實施

and inexpensive.

而且費用不多。

The mathematics curriculum that we have

我們現在的數學課程

is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.

是以算術與代數為基礎，

And everything we learn after that

而在那之後所學的一切

is building up towards one subject.

都在朝著同一個主題發展

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

在這金字塔的頂端，就是微積分

And I'm here to say

我在這裡要說

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

我認為這是個錯誤的目標

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

而正確的目標，對全體學生而言

every high school graduate should know --

每一個畢業生應該知道的

should be statistics:

應該是統計

probability and statistics.

機率與統計

(Applause)

鼓掌聲

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

請別誤會，微積分是個重要的學科

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

它是人類心智最重要的產物之一

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

大自然的定律是以微積分來描述的

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

每一個學習數學、科學、工程、經濟的學生

they should definitely learn calculus

他們絕對需要學習微積分

by the end of their freshman year of college.

在他們大一就得學會

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

但身為一個數學教授，我要說

that very few people actually use calculus

很少人會實際用到微積分

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

以有意識、有意義的方式，用在日常生活中

On the other hand,

但另一方面

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

統計學--是你可以應用的學科

and should, use on daily basis. Right?

並且應該在日常生活中使用的，對嗎？

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

它討論風險、報償、隨機性

It's understanding data.

它是了解數據的工具

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

我想，如果我們的學生，

if all of the American citizens --

如果所有的美國人民

knew about probability and statistics,

懂得機率與統計學

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

我們就不會陷入今天這場經濟風暴

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

不止這樣

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

如果教法適當，它可以是很有趣的

I mean, probability and statistics,

機率與統計

it's the mathematics of games and gambling.

它是遊戲與賭博的數學

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

它分析趨勢、預測未來

Look, the world has changed

你看，這世界已經改變了

from analog to digital.

從類比式的變成數位式

And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change

也是改變我們數學課程的時候了

from analog to digital,

從類比式變成數位式

from the more classical, continuous mathematics,

從古典、連續式的數學

to the more modern, discrete mathematics --

變成更現代、分離式的數學

the mathematics of uncertainty,

探討不確定性的數學

of randomness, of data --

探討數據的隨機性

that being probability and statistics.

那就是機率與統計

In summary, instead of our students

簡要的說，與其

learning about the techniques of calculus,

讓學生學微積分

I think it would be far more significant

我想更重要的是

if all of them knew what two standard deviations

讓他們了解，距離平均值兩個標準差

from the mean means. And I mean it.

代表什麼意思，會更有意義

Thank you very much.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

鼓掌聲