By CONOR SHEA
Executive Editor
This is a question for all non-mathematics majors: when was the last time you used algebra? It wouldn’t be a surprise to find that most, if not all college students haven’t touched algebra since their required liberal arts mathematics course.
This is the primary argument against the requirement to learn algebra, and it is one that students have been using for decades. However, it may be needed no longer with the recent release of the “PhotoMath” phone application. When launched, the app brings up a camera window, much like a QR code scanner. When lined up over an algebraic equation, it uses pattern recognition to detect the symbols, and translate them into a digital image. You wait just a matter of seconds, and on-screen pops up the solution to the problem you just snapped.
But what about the steps, you ask? After all, any algebra professor worth their salt would make the student demonstrate how the answer was achieved. The app has that covered, and gives you a color-coded, step-by-step breakdown of how the answer was found.
This app could in fact make algebra homework a thing of the past. And yet, it’s not so different from the pre-smartphone era. The original PhotoMath app was the private tutor, someone better at the subject than you, who would show you how to solve the problem.
This app, much like a private tutor, may only hurt students in the long run. Sure, you’ll pass every homework with flying colors, but what about the tests? Teachers are on the lookout for cheating with technology now more than ever, and it’s hard to be subtle when taking pictures of your test.
More than the integrity argument, it’s disappointing that high school students may now never learn the hidden benefits of taking algebra. More important than learning the mathematics skills required to pass algebra are the problem-solving skills you need to learn.
Algebra is linear, and taken step-by-step until the problem has been boiled down to its answer. It’s somewhat poetic, as you start with a messy, complicated mass of symbols and letters, and end with a clean, definite answer.
This approach to problem solving is something not exclusive to math, and can easily be translated to other courses. Trying to compose a piece of music? You’re using algebra, as you look for the right aesthetic combination of notes. Writing a paper? You’re using algebra as you find the best order of paragraphs to clearly convey your point. Algebra is, at its core, top-down problem solving. You start with one big, seemingly-unfixable mess, and take it apart, step by step. This is how companies plan longterm strategies, and advertisers examine the message of their TV spot.
Solving algebraic equations takes persistence, and it takes practice. Having the answers and steps handed to you takes away the challenge of the problem, as well as the satisfaction earned from completing one.
It’s unlikely that the “I’ll never use it again” argument will prevail; thus, algebra will be taught in schools for years to come. The challenge used to be not asking your nerdy friend to let you copy their homework. Then, the challenge was not to search the question and look for the “Yahoo Answers” page. Now, it will be not downloading this app, which is certainly a greater test of character, given its convenience.
And yet, the students who take the easy way out will continue to perform poorly on exams, mataining the status quo. Maybe one day, students will realize the importance of math while they still have to take it, and come to appreciate its hidden value.
