Today was our last input for the module, Discovering Maths. At the beginning of the module my understanding of mathematics was just the basic sums and problem solving skills that I was taught in primary school, however this module has taught me so much more!

From the tuition in Discovering Maths, I have discovered that maths really is the foundation of most aspects in life.  I have truly explored the fundamental properties of mathematics  and just how important they to almost every life situation in which we encounter. Liping Ma (2010) supports the idea of the importance of the fundamental principals of mathematics, and states that the four three fundamentals of mathematics are (Inter) connectedness, multiple perspectives, basic ideas and principles and longitudinal coherence. Curriculum for Excellence (undated) further highlights the importance of teaching the fundamental principals of mathematics from a young age. Curriculum for Excellence (undated) says that the fundamentals of mathematics are extremely important and useful when it comes to everyday life, and so, it is important that students are introduced to these principals from a very young age.

From studying this modules, I have come to realise that mathematics is a subject that relates to almost every situation and problem that we face in the world. Maths plays a huge part in a range of different aspects in the world, music being one. Sangster, p (2018) further develops the idea of maths playing a huge part music and uses a wide range of examples to back this statement up, including: rhythms and time signatures.

Overall, I feel that this module has had a huge influence on my developing of mathematics and will have a positive impact on how i choose to teach the subject. I really enjoyed this module as it has influenced me to dig deeper in mathematics and explore different uses and concepts of  maths. Discovering maths has taught me that there is mathematics in almost every situation, thus highlighting the importance of being able to pass on my knowledge to further, upcoming, students.

References

Curriculum for Excellence (undated) Curriculum for Excellence: Mathematics, Principals and Practice , Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/mathematics-pp.doc (Accessed: 24th October 2018).

Ma, L., (2010) Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics (Anniversary Ed.) New York: Routledge.

Sangster, P. (2018) Discovering Maths: Music and Mathematics [MA2 Discovering Maths Lecture] ED21006: Discovering Maths. University of Dundee

From a recent workshop, I truly have found how maths makes us beautiful! Through linking maths and art together, I discovered that maths helps to make the beauty of the human face. I can back this up with the picture below…

The drawing on the left is my first attempt. To create this drawing we copied an image and drew free handed. However, the picture on the right is how we should be taught to draw in education. To create this image, we copied a step by step guide which explained the different fractions of the face and exactly where each facial feature should be placed. Using measurements, I created this drawing. We new the exact fractions and proportions of the face and this helped to make a clearer, and more attractive, facial drawing. The difference is clearly visible! True beauty, right?

Bourne, M. (2018) backs up the idea of maths bringing to beauty to individuals. Bourne, M (2018) explains how the human face depends on ‘the golden ratio’ and particularly focuses on the mathematical concept of symmetry. The golden ratio comes from the idea of the Fibonacci number sequence (explained in a previous blog of mine). Bourne, M (2018) explains that this idea is followed when it comes to the positioning of eyes and also the length of the nose.

To conclude, this workshop really opened my eyes to the thought that maths stretches to beyond numbers and calculations. I feel that it was this workshop that got me thinking to how mathematics plays such a huge part in our lives. I have now began to make connections between mathematics and other concepts, and no just number orientated problems. I feel that in school I was also taught that maths was linked to numbers and calculations and so I feel that it is extremely important that we are introduced to ideas like this at an early age. Thus, widening students knowledge of mathematics.

References

Bourne, M. (2018) The Maths Behind The Beauty , Available at: https://www.intmath.com/numbers/math-of-beauty.php (Accessed: 5th November 2018 ).