Maths – Why bother?

athematics is, in one sentence according to Google, “the science and study of quality, structure, space and change”. Wow, is that so? No wonder I had and still have great difficulty with the subject. Fortunately, my offspring – my daughter was a gold medal winner in professional accounting finals and son Exhibition winner in the sciences – got genes from my father’s side; and, of course, my mother was no slouch in Maths, French and English. My father died early in America, as a result of a surgeon’s mistake.

All of that does not amount to a row of beans when we consider what approaches need to be taken in teaching Mmathematics, and I expect there are many. For instance, the maths teacher may begin by using the actual classroom structure and space as a design template, as long as they have access to the long measuring tape, which the school should have. I won’t presume to tell any teacher the number of geometric shapes into which a classroom may be divided; suffice it to say it can also provide real-world design examples and measurements of room sizes.

From basic measurements of length, width, area and so on, to more advanced mathematical solutions, using a diagram of a building, as to how many steps it would take from the sitting room in the diagram to the kitchen in different configurations of house plans. Another real-world project might be how long will it take an aircraft to be flown from point A to point B with the average airspeed given to various segments of the flight, and so on.

Students may themselves come up with ideas for various measurements. All reasonable and practical suggestions should be encouraged. Geometrical descriptors should be applied to different elements of the space in the diagram as they are segmented – sitting, dining rooms, bedroom, kitchen etc. The plan could be transferred outside to an actual chalk layout on some suitable spot. But am I bringing coals to Newcastle? I am sure that maths teachers have many exciting concepts that they bring to their students.

Here, however, is the kicker: are students simply saying, ‘Why bother? We have the computer’?

Michael Rudder