Mathematics, one of the scariest words that can be said. I feel that I suffer from maths anxiety and so when deciding to choose the discovering maths elective I felt very nervous about what to expect. However I must say, so far so good.

From my experience of maths at school I always believed, what I now know to be one of the maths myths; it-should-be-easy suggesting not everyone has a maths brain. (University of Alabama, no date). But there was always part of me questioned this, I knew I wasn’t a maths genius; another one of the math myths but I wasn’t terribly awful at maths either, why was this? The past few lectures provided me with the answer to this – I was able to memorise formulas and structures and apply them to mathematical questions.

Another question about my own math experience started to puzzle me, if I was able to apply what I had memorised to basic mathematical questions, why did I always struggle when the format of the question was changed? For example, if the teacher put the question what is 2 + 3 in front of me I could answer within seconds but when it changed to the question “if I had 2 sweets and my friend gave me another 3, how many would I have altogether?” it would take me some time to work out what this question was asking me to do. The answer to this was simple, during my time at school I had very little practical maths lessons. I cannot remember ever having a maths lesson I didn’t realise at the time was a maths lesson or one I even found enjoyable. Boalar (2009) suggest that children, like myself, who have been taught in a very structural way do have a board range of understanding, however this understanding is not deeply engrained so is easily forgot over time. She also suggests that children who have experienced a more practical approach to mathematics were more flexible and so were able to adapt their knowledge to suit the question that was in front of them.

Since starting this module I have realised many potential ways mathematics can be enjoyable for children. I thoroughly enjoyed the latest lecture on making maths creative. Until this lecture I most likely could tell you very little about geometry and I most definitely could not tell you anything about tessellations. However, I know feel my brain is filled with so much more knowledge about these aspects of mathematics and I certainly won’t forget making my own tessellation, I even plan to make some more.

I am starting to see that discovering maths might not be so daunting after all.

References:

Boaler, J. (2009) The Elephant in the Classroom. London: Souvenir Press Ltd.

University of Alabama (no date).  Math Myths.  Available online at: http://www.ctl.ua.edu/CTLStudyAids/StudySkillsFlyers/Math/mathmyths.htm (Accessed 26th September 2017).