Is Math Worth the Sacrifice

For ages and ages, the question has been "Is there any necessity to learn mathematics? I'll never use it in the practical world. My desire is to be a fireman or a cowboy or a news reporter and they don't need to know what a number is. Technological progress makes it even more difficult. The incredible diverse number of electronic wonders that are available for the public make the idea of playing around with mathematical calculations even less enticing. Why would it make sense to take any effort in working with formulas, and even worse, memorizing them, when the same thing can be done with a calculator a zillion times faster? It seems like a valid concern, and students ask it all the time

The answer to the question has some complexity, which goes a bit further the evident. No one finds it entertaining to memorize facts; however starting with the foundations is the start of most fields of learning. It is plausible that reversing the order of math studies might do much toward helping students to understand why the study of math can be helpful.

Among the reasons why the study of math is necessary is that it creates the need for students to read and comprehend, which also pushes them to learn how to organize their rational-mental processes and to be able to see depth in more challenging problems. The formulas by themselves won’t help to comprehend how to apply a formula. In order to master that ability, the students need to train their brains in order to recognize patterns and elements that will allow them to associate knowledge and to gain understanding. 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.

Also, the objective of math is to give this mental order that allows to understand actually how things work in the calculators and other electronic devices. In other words, you need to now math to make your math easier using a calculator. 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 determine which of two items in different sized containers costs more is a travesty of the concept of mathematics education. Many adults fail to 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. Even the tests which are provided in order to monitor the progress of students show a serious decline in the understanding of math. Teachers are criticized for not trying to go a little bit further, and maybe this criticism is a little bit unfair, because this decline is part of a deeper tendency.

About Author

Robert is a member of MGT, a tutoring resource that offers help with math homework .

Source: ArticleTrader.com

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