Let''s stop hating Math

[BAndrew]

I couldn''t agree more.

[i3670]

It's sad to see that in Sweden, pupils view mathematics as unnecessary and boring. I've always found it interesting, when I understand it, and feel really disappointed when I hear young people talking down on math.

As an example, many Swedish 7-9th graders couldn't solve 4/5 + 2/3. I asked my little brother who is currently on that level of math to solve it and he answered incorrectly to which he replied "Oh, so I'm like everyone else, great!".

[Froge]

At my university, mathematics is a feared subject, and I think that's because most people can't overcome the language barrier. Most mathematics is highly intuitive, but the language used to express and prove its theorems is confusing for people. For example, when I see something like this:



It takes a lot of effort to even decipher the language.

[BAndrew]

@i3670
That's indeed very unfortunate and I see this kind of behavior all the time in my country too. But I can't understand why mathematics is treated like this. I mean I can understand that people have different abilities and interests, but no one is acting like this on any other subjects. Everyone will gladly learn to draw, sing, play a sport, read literature et cetera which is really cool. But when it comes to Math (almost) everyone starts overreacting.

@Froge

I am not into university yet, but so far (high school Calculus) I don't have any particular problem with the language of Mathematics (symbols, etc). Well I do understand that this will be different (easier or more difficult) for some people, but I think it's a matter of practice. The same applies to music. Why is music different? The "language" used to express the notes is really confusing if you haven't practiced it enough.

[i3670]

Maybe it's a general disliking of philosophy.

[eliasfrost]

I think it's because math is hard to understand, especially for children, it requires high levels of logical thinking, and it also requires you to apply said logic to different problems to find a solution, which is an area that is not fully developed in young children.

It also depends on how you teach math, in Sweden, all the resources go to the university and college, while elementary school has gone through a 20 year period of experimenting with different types of educational methods and systems, which have (of course) led to a very large number of young people going out of school with very low grades and a detest for education, which is extremely unfortunate.

[BAndrew]

I think it's because math is hard to understand, especially for children, it requires high levels of logical thinking, and it also requires you to apply said logic to different problems to find a solution, which is an area that is not fully developed in young children.

It also depends on how you teach math, in Sweden, all the resources go to the university and college, while elementary school has gone through a 20 year period of experimenting with different types of educational methods and systems, which have (of course) led to a very large number of young people going out of school with very low grades and a detest for education, which is extremely unfortunate.

Yes, Mathematics is hard. But as you said it requires abstract and logical thinking and therefore it will help you in every aspect of your life. Math is about understanding and learning to think, not about memorizing formulas that you are going to forget and you probably don't even care about. You probably won't even remember what an integral is after 10 years, but what Math has to offer to students is the ability to think logically and abstractly to solve a given problem (and not necessarily a problem in Mathematics).

I agree that Mathematics is really poorly teached to students. I assure you that this is not only in Sweden, but in many countries (including mine). After all, if teachers make you hate Math or do nothing to make you interested in it you are never going to like it.

[Froge]

I am not into university yet, but so far (high school Calculus) I don't have any particular problem with the language of Mathematics (symbols, etc). Well I do understand that this will be different (easier or more difficult) for some people, but I think it's a matter of practice. The same applies to music. Why is music different? The "language" used to express the notes is really confusing if you haven't practiced it enough.

At the high school I went to, I had trouble with calculus when I first learned it, and that's because there are so many abstractions hidden in its language. Here's an example:

I remember a test question where I was given a velocity function v(t) and I was asked to "show the acceleration is constant." The mathematical solution was very simple: find the derivative of the velocity function and prove that the derivative is constant. But for a calculus beginner, they'd have to wrap their mind around the following abstractions:

1. The derivative of velocity is acceleration.
2. When a function is equal to a constant, it is a straight line.
3. A straight line neither increases nor decreases. It is "constant."
4. Thus, if acceleration is a constant function, then it neither increases nor decreases.
5. Therefore, we just need to show acceleration is a constant function.

Trivial as the above might seem, a mathematics beginner's brain has to warp through the above "logical implications" in order to get the answer, and that takes a lot of effort and thinking.

In other words, people may avoid mathematics because they aren't familiar with all the implications hidden within the language.

[BAndrew]

The problem is really straighforward to me*, but that's maybe because I am already experienced in calculus. I see what you mean though. What I have to say is that no one is born knowing all the implications of Mathematics. It requires a lot of effort and hard work to actually learn the material and understand the "philosophy" of the problem. I think that it is mainly the teachers's job to make students interested in Math and make sure everything understand the concepts (because not all students work on the same pace. Some may need more time to grasp the idea or more practice).

Also (at least that's what I observe) usually students are really dissapointed by the difficulty of Math especially when they can't understand it. I am tired of hearing phrases like "I suck at Math" , " I am so bad at Math", "Math is so hard " and so on and from students that are really good on other subjects so definetely lazyliness is not the problem here. It's a failure of teachers to expose students to hard problems especially at the very beginning. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the challenge of hard problems, but for some students this is too much and we must respect that not everyone has the same abilities (for example I am really really bad at drawing, although I never whine about it). I think it is important that teachers find the right balance. Also teachers are no gods. The education system in many countries just doesn't work as it should.





* a(t) = v'(t)
So you have to prove that v'(t) = c , where c is a real number (no appropriate symbols on keyboard :Ρ )

[Alardem]

Good lord, everyone here's a math nerd. :p

I dislike studying mathematics because it's completely at odds with my inclination towards abstract/creative thinking. Requires a different side of the brain, which ends up making me feel like I'm going in two directions at once.

"I suck at Math" , " I am so bad at Math", "Math is so hard " and so on and from students that are really good on other subjects so definetely lazyliness is not the problem here

Apply logic here. They're good at OTHER SUBJECTS. Wonder why? Maybe because they care about those subjects, and dislike math because it's just not their interest.