As a former high school math teacher, I have long been a proponent of introducing vectors & matrices more in the context of 2d and 3d vector graphics i.e. more rotation matrices using trig functions and less matrices aimed at solving simultaneous equations, which is the pre-existing paved road through "intro to linear algebra".
With rotation matrices in the bag, it'd be a small jump to showing how quaternions might serve the same purpose, whereas in reality, game developers pass on this lore independently of the high schools.
Not that vector algebra of any kind is easy to come by in most US public high schools.
I went to a prep school, international, where half the kids planned their higher ed back home in Europe, so in addition to American AP (advanced placement) we had IB (international baccalaureate).
Although I didn't go for the IB certification, and got into big name schools anyway (applying from the Philippines boosts one's odds?, high SATs...) I looked over my classmates' shoulders and saw vector and matrix stuff getting piled on. On checking back with an old guidance counselor, I learn IB at ISM (International School, Manila) is bigger than ever.
I could see international schools like ISM and others more locally, like SEE (I taught there) and OES (I applied there, as a consultant), getting into Quadrays early, as an adjunct, adjacent to what's already on the books, but here with a novel spin and an edge. Martian Math is trendy, dontcha know?
At this level, the schools compete with each other. Whereas in average teenage wasteland, schools more often strive to match a conformist standard of mediocrity whereby no one should strive to outshine the others. My high school in Bradenton, Florida was more of this latter kind. Teachers need jobs at the end of the day.
Private religious schools deter public institutions from daring to undermine their credibility, through competition, as future nation builders. It'd make waves to teach a lot of Quadrays + Bucky stuff even before the Jesuits or Mormons got around to it for example -- exactly the kind of waves I make at the School of Tomorrow.
[ text copied and slightly edited from Synergeo archive August 28, 2025 ]
