Why Do We Need to Learn Math?
Why Algebra? Club TNT looks into the question.
The question "Why Do We Need to Learn Math?" was posed to several instructors in the United States. Let's see what they had to say ...
Learning math, as well as other subjects, trains students how to think, how to learn how to learn, and how to develop a degree of discipline that will carry over into their lives and the work world, especially when they are faced with difficult situations.
Math helps people think abstractly and this carries over to many other fields and practical applications.-- Ted Panitz
Because you need to be in courses that will build your character.
Hard courses, seemingly stupid courses and courses that are badly taught all contribute to one's character in a very positive way. They test your perseverance, your tenacity, your assertiveness and your will to survive! It is a phenomenal accomplishment to succeed under such circumstances and you have to develop a number of skills in the process that are as much a testament to your fiber as they are to your capacity to learn XXX. And those life skills are the important ones.
The next time you encounter something difficult, regardless of the reason, you know in the fabric of your being that you can do this because you got through that awful (fill in the blank) experience in college. If you got through that, you can get through anything!
Shevawn Eaton, Ph.D.
Director, ACCESS/ESP
Northern Illinois University
I have given three answers to the second question:
Philosophical: Since you are in college, you are presumed to be seeking a college degree. People who have college degrees are expected by society to be "Educated Persons." An educated person is one who has a broad understanding of many things not directly directed at earning a paycheck. (I often add that we are not just in the business of turning students into employees; we are in the business of helping students become Educated Persons.)
Recreational: If you have a good, broad, knowledge of how various systems operate, it makes thinking more fun. Understanding how things work - from economic plans and the behavior of people to ocean tides, seasons, weather, and rainbows -- is an enormous and inexhaustible source of pleasure.
Practical: Other things being equal, advancement in any job, and access to improved situations will normally fall more readily to those who show evidence of being Educated Persons -- who can hold their own in written and oral communication with others of various areas and degrees of knowledge, and who can make decisions based upon broad knowledge of politics, society, psychology, science, art, ... -- whatever is appropriate to the occasion.
John M. Flanigan
Asst. Professor, Mathematics,
Kaneohe, Hawaii
My response to the question has two parts.
(1) You will always function several levels below the highest level you have taken in math, as well as other subjects. Raising the level you have studied will raise the level you work at every day. You will see new and easier ways to solve problems.
(2) You will be using the same problem solving skills in all areas of your life. When starting the idea of problem solving skills, I first plan a trip I want to take with them - to show the relationship between the skills.
MaryLiz Pierce
Red Mountain Campus
Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ
One answer that I give now is "because that is what our accreditation board requires". We are primarily an engineering school (which has more obvious reasons for requiring math), but I still get the question "Why do I have to learn Calculus, I have talked to every engineer on this planet and not one of them ever uses Calculus in their job, so why do I have to take it" (that might be a bit exaggerated). I have used many methods to try to convince students that it is an important part of their development.
A) I tell them that any natural science degree is really an applied mathematics degree, because that kind of degree requires a higher understanding of math.
B) I tell them that Calculus is the base language of engineering and science. I then invite them to open an advanced engineering text or two and see what kind of symbols and notations they see.
C) I try to explain the difference between an Engineer/Scientist and a Technician. What are the expectations of the two positions? How do they differ in education and training (this is where the math comes it)? How do they differ in pay and mobility? I acknowledge that Engineers are sometimes really Technicians, and sometimes Technicians become Engineers, but the degree is more likely to affect pay and mobility.
D) my short response is "to get your degree", which does not satisfy students but is sometimes appropriate.
Craig Andres
How do students know they are NOT going to need this stuff?
A reverse example: I was the only Math major NOT to take the computer science emphasis while I was in College. I did, however take the three computer science courses that were required as part of my course work. My graduate work did use computers but did not specialized in computers. Then Life happened and I am making a living of the knowledge I acquired about something I did not consider "worthy" when I was in College. Yet, when it happened, I was ready to jump in the field, because I HAD to take those courses. How many of us can relate to this story?
We could initiate a discussion in which the students define "useful" or "practical." We could explore specifically what is useful under that definition. We could "move back in time" and use that definition to "discard" stuff that was deemed "useless" at the time (but that, of course, they can not live without these days). Examples abound. The moral is to get them to understand that the more prepared they are, the more doors may open in a future that they can not determine now.
Guillermo Uribe Ph.D.
Manager, Learning Technology and Information Systems
University Learning Center, Freshman Year Center
Old Main 202
520.621.5983