Exploring Mathematics & Science :

Mathematics is Terrible – Is It? (Part 1)

Sharad Saxena

Mathematics as a subject is considered as really a hard, uninteresting, inaccessible, and only meant for nerds or so-called brainy person. It is not considered cool. There is a belief that maths is mostly for boys and for girls it is difficult to get into it. Those doing well in maths are also considered gifted. Many parents would say, without a tinge embarrassment, that they were terrible in mathematics. I am sure most of you would be able to relate to many of these statements.  

When students get the idea that they cannot do maths, they often maintain a negative relationship with it throughout their life. We know that math trauma exists, and it makes a student weak from inside. On the other hand, the students who are good at mathematics are considered smart and clever. So, the other way to look at is that those not good in maths are dumb. This thinking affects the psychology of a child and he/she gets dis-engaged and performs poorly in other subjects too because of low self-esteem. This is devastating for children, and more so for the society as the effect continues for generations.

There has been a lot of research in this area and all of them come to a similar conclusion. The gist of which is that this is due to harmful teaching practices and inappropriate parenting. The way mathematics is taught is by moving logically from one concept to another. Should you miss one session or some steps you seem to be suddenly out of place and lose focus on things which you would have easily understood. Mathematics should be taught and studied differently.

In a series of articles starting from this one I will be giving some tips from the research done around the world on teaching mathematics in a manner that a student starts loving it.

Our mind works in two modes – focussed mode and diffuse mode. Both are important for learning and we switch back and forth between the two, in our day-to-day activities. While focussed mode is essential for learning math and science, diffused mode is important to gain a sudden insight on a problem we might be struggling with. Though the two modes do not get activated together, diffused mode at times continues to work quietly in the background even we are not focussing on something. Diffused mode thinking happens when you relax your attention and let your mind wander around the subject. Have you noticed that sometimes when you sleep over a problem you may suddenly find that the next morning you are able to crack it in no time? One significant mistake students sometimes make in learning math and science is like jumping into the water before they learn to swim. In other words, they blindly start working on homework without reading the textbook, lecture notes or speaking with someone knowledgeable. This is a recipe for sinking.

So, if you are trying to understand or figure out something new, your best bet is to turn off your focussed thinking and turn on your ‘big-picture’ diffused mode initially. So here are a few tips.

Ø  Whenever you start a new chapter try to quickly read it in about 10-15 minutes without getting into details and make a rough mental picture in your mind as to what it is all about.

Ø  In the evenings, every day just close your eyes and try to recall what was taught in the different classes during the day. Keep your mobile phones away during this period of reflection.

Ø  When solving a problem, first articulate to yourself what is the problem and what are you being asked.  Do not straight away jump to solve it by plugging a formula. A good articulation of the problem to yourself is 80% of the battle won.

So, try putting these small suggestions in practice and wait for more on this subject in the next Monthly Web-bulletin.

 

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