How Important Is Algebra for Getting a University Diploma?

[scottbrandon]

Hi everyone!

I’m working through Beginning Algebra here and it’s making me think about long‑term goals. For those planning to go to university or already there, how important has mastering algebra been for earning your diploma?

Do you think understanding algebra well in this forum has helped you prepare for college classes or meet diploma requirements?

Are there specific algebra topics you wish you’d learned better before university that would have made things easier?

I’d love to hear your experiences and advice on preparing algebra skills for academic success.

 

[scottbrandon]

Hi everyone!

I’m working through Beginning Algebra here and it’s making me think about long‑term goals. For those planning to go to university or already there, how important has mastering algebra been for earning your diploma?

Do you think understanding algebra well in this forum has helped you prepare for college classes or meet diploma requirements?

Are there specific algebra topics you wish you’d learned better before university that would have made things easier?

I’d love to hear your experiences with a replica university diploma and your advice on preparing algebra skills for academic success.

thanks in advance for any help

 

[fresh_42]

It all depends on what you understand by algebra, how old you are, and what you want to study.

The term is normally used as a description of any basic mathematical skills in the English-speaking world. When I was a kid, my mother used it to describe any equation with an unknown. In general, it is the science of structures, which is called abstract algebra in English. This is a bit funny, as there is no concrete, non-abstract version of it. I think that basic mathematical skills are very important in any field, maybe with the exception of legal sciences, history, and arts. It is certainly important in STEM fields and any science that involves empirical data.

 

[blamocur]

The term is normally used as a description of any basic mathematical skills in the English-speaking world.

I am not a native speaker, but I've never heard anyone describing classical geometry or topology as part of algebra, even though algebraic methods can be useful. But I agree that "algebra" covers a very large part of math, and is a prerequisite to many more, including, for example, calculus.

 

[fresh_42]

I am not a native speaker, but I've never heard anyone describing classical geometry or topology as part of algebra, even though algebraic methods can be useful. But I agree that "algebra" covers a very large part of math, and is a prerequisite to many more, including, for example, calculus.

I wouldn't include topology in basic skills, but I would include Pythagoras in algebra.

 

[blamocur]

I wouldn't include topology in basic skills

Agree

but I would include Pythagoras in algebra.

But Pythagoras theorem is not all the geometry. Moreover, most of calculus (which some would consider basic skills) relies on algebraic concepts, but does this make it a part of algebra?

 

[fresh_42]

Agree

But Pythagoras theorem is not all the geometry. Moreover, most of calculus (which some would consider basic skills) relies on algebraic concepts, but does this make it a part of algebra?

I am the wrong person to defend the usage of the term algebra in English. Algebra means to me abstract algebra, the science of structures. I can only guess what it means in English without the reference 'abstract'. I hesitate to call dealing with equations (or inequalities) algebra. That's why I prefer to talk about basic mathematical skills. Yes, there might be a difference if we look at Euclidean geometry, but this only shows that my translation is suboptimal. It does not prove that term algebra itself is meaningful in English. I doubt that there is a clear limitation. Maybe my mother wasn't too wrong after all by describing it (to a school kid) as "anything with letters".

If we look at its origin, then we end up with "anything with numbers", which I would call a calculation.

 

[blamocur]

I am the wrong person to defend the usage of the term algebra in English.

I've posted my disclaimer earlier

Google AI (A but not much of I claims that "Algebra is branch of mathematics that uses symbols (like letters) to represent unknown numbers", which isn't true in the case of abstract algebras. I like Wikipedia's description better.