To quote Paul Halmos, “The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.” Math is the foundation on which the universe is built. It’s the baseline in the hierarchy of subjects. There is no physics, chemistry, biology, or history without mathematics. There is no success in STEM without success in mathematics. Math skills are tested in every single field of study, not just at school but for our entire lives. Nothing can undermine its importance, nothing except for ourselves. Stereotypically, math is considered to be the “boring subject” as well as the hardest subject to master. In fact, 37% of teens aged 13-17 find math to be the most difficult subject according to recent surveys. If these are the statistics for teens who generally have a broader and more developed exposure to math than children, one could imagine what they would be like for elementary students. Why do so many students struggle with math, and how can this be improved so that they develop curiosity and confidence in math?
When I was young, I found math to be tedious and simply uninteresting like most of my classmates. I couldn’t relate to the work I was doing in math. I kept wondering, when will I ever use this in real life? What’s the point of memorizing all of these theorems and equations? Being unable to connect your learning with what’s going on around you makes it seem monotonous, which in turn will negatively affect attention span and patience: concepts are learned, but not understood. I grew up in China, a country that heavily emphasizes students’ grades in STEM subjects. My foundational skills of math are strong due to constant revision and practice that was mandatory, but it wasn’t until around grade 6 that I realized the importance of math to the past and present progression of our world as I learned more about the society that we live in, and therefore why it’s crucial to be competent and inquisitive in math. I started to take the initiative to utilize my math skills in various situations, and I began to take pleasure in completing my math homework. This brought up my grades and most importantly my understanding in math. Unlike my own math journey, students should recognize the significance and vitality of math at a young age so that they can approach math with an enthusiastic attitude to develop competence in it and ultimately to become engaged and productive global citizens in the future.
Math is an “open” subject with limitless possibilities, and therefore it requires an open mind, something that every student should be equipped with when learning and doing math. Having an open mind is a process that starts with finding out why you are learning whatever you are learning, asking questions about your work, and connecting it with other subjects and real-life situations. That being said, younger students will need their parents/guardians and teachers to guide them through this process of understanding and actively interacting with their math work. Mathematical concepts and formulas are like biological cells: just like how cells are the basic units of life, they are the basic units of math. Just like how every cell comes from another cell, every concept and formula comes from another one. If you can figure out and understand how they were derived in the first place and apply it to other, more challenging, and open-ended problems like Fermi math problems (which can be found by searching online), you have mastered the concept. However, to elementary and high school students, a large part of math seems to be memorization, and getting the correct answer to practice questions, which may make it difficult to maintain an open mind. It's important to remember that these things act like the mold that you need to acquire for yourself before you can even start thinking about building a structure out of it. They provide you with the necessary material, and the rest is all up to you. If you can get yourself some good quality material with an open mind, your structure will only keep thriving as you dive deeper and deeper into the beauty of mathematics.
Even with an open mind, it’s hard not to feel unconfident at times about one’s skills in math. I once believed that math is “not for me” and felt despondent over the entire subject because of reasons such as a poor test score or having peers that are “better” than me at math. But, I understood how important math is to overall academic success, since it’s the baseline of every other subject, as I have stated in the first paragraph. I began asking myself, have I truly mastered this concept? I made sure to fully understand everything I was learning by asking my teachers whenever I felt even a little unsure about something. I made sure that I was able to solve challenging problems by myself after I have looked at the solution. I made sure to connect concepts with other concepts, and gradually, all the pieces of math came together to form a comprehensive and gorgeous picture in my mind. I never gave up, and although I still doubt myself today, I just keep working harder. Therefore, it’s important to acknowledge that there is nobody with a natural talent for math, only those that are willing to put more hard work into it. To sum it all up, curiosity comes from an open mind, and confidence comes from perseverance and hard work. Math always begins in minuteness, but if you keep math in your path, trust that it will end in magnificence.
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Resources
Levy, R. (2018, July 06). 5 Tips for Improving Students' Success in Math. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-tips-improving-students-success-math
How to Succeed in Math. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from http://weusemath.org/?page_id=7