Is Math Worth the Sacrifice

Generation after generation, the question has been always"Is there any necessity to learn mathematics? There is no room for it in reality. Or, my dream is to be a writer, a rock-star, and I’m sure I won’t need it. Technological progress makes it even more difficult. The varied arrays of electronic wonders that are available for the public make the perspective of performing mathematical calculations even less appealing. Why would it make sense to take any effort in working with formulas, and even worse, memorizing them, when the same result can be achieved with a calculator a zillion times faster? It seems like a valid concern, and students ask it all the time

There are some different answers to the question and all of them require some maturity to understand. No one finds it entertaining to memorize like a robot; nevertheless, the basics is what is usually better learned initially. It is plausible that reversing the order of math studies might do much toward helping students to comprehend why the study of math can be helpful.

The first reason why children should work on math problems is that they force the student to read and comprehend the question or problem. The student learns to organize their thinking in order to understand the true dimensions of the problem. The best knowledge given by formulas cannot tell you how to use it. In order to achieve that, it is necessary to be able to put your thinking in action to recognize the important elements of a situation and secondly to understand how to apply known facts or procedures in order to find the answer to the question. To be able to lay out the parameters of the math problem will help a student learn the same procedure for other fields of study as well.

In addition to learning how to organize your thinking due to math, you will need to understand how to apply formulas and procedures in order to come up with the answer to the questions. In other words, unless you really understand something about the mechanisms of math, you won't have any idea how to enter numbers into a computer. While the actual calculation performed by a calculator does greatly simplify even routine problem solving, to raise three generations of students with no understanding of how to use a calculator to establish which of two items in different sized containers costs more is a travesty of the concept of mathematics education. Many adults do not understand the concept of reconciling a bank statement, or calculating true cost of an adjustable rate mortgage.

The current state of affairs in American education is troublesome at best. Standardized tests put in evidence a dramatic fall in the math understanding of our students and the tendency doesn’t seem to get any signs of getting reverted in the short-run. Criticism of teachers for 'teaching to the test' has been widespread, but specifically for math, it is hard to see how logic and inductive reasoning which are required to solve most real life math problems can be considered teaching to the test.

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