One of the most fundamental subjects across various disciplines -whether it is a basic science subject like Physics or a more applied area like Finance and Accounting, in the world is Mathematics. In the current era of “Big Data” where massive amounts of data are generated, at places varying from, say a genome-sequencing centre to a stock market exchange, and then mined for patterns, Mathematics has only gained popularity because of its applications in such diverse areas. As an Indian, I take immense pride in claiming that I come from the land of famous mathematicians like Aryabhatta, Ramanujan and Bhaskar- some of the names who have made immense contributions to the development and growth of the subject in different dimensions – whether it was algebra, number system or trigonometry. However, it pains me to see those school-going kids who seem to be traumatised by the subject.
The question continues to baffle me: How could people hate Math? When I went to the school, what fascinated me the most about the subject was the fact that it involved very little cramming or mugging up facts (barring, of course, a few formulae). This definitely is in sharp contrast to most of the subjects that we studied at school like English, History, Geography and even Science, to an extent. If we look at this problem at a superficial level, it is clear that students (some of them, atleast) do not like the subject even though the same students might be doing well in other subjects (which involve lots of mugging up). This implies a fact that appears a bit counter-intuitive - are students good at cramming lessons while being rather bad at the same time for things that need understanding?
I tried to explore this problem in a greater detail and talked to some of my classmates and a few students whom I have taught over a period of six years (particularly those who were bad at Mathematics). The conversations brought to fore, some of the facts that adequately show the fallacies of our education system. It turned out that most of the people who had a phobia of the subject had a very bad first impression about it, courtesy the teachers who taught them at the primary school. Some of the teachers were inadequately trained to teach the subject and this only added to the confusion among the minds of the students. Others were way too remote to reach out to their students or had poor communication skills and hence were never able to create an interest among the students for the subject. In the former case, the students develop a fear for the subject while in the latter; they might be fine with it but never develop an interest and hence hardly appreciate the content and the richness of the subject. As a result, very few of them choose Maths as their primary subject for undergraduate studies.
Additionally, there is a tendency among the parents to create an unnecessary hype about the subject and put them under undue pressure to take tuitions as soon as they find out that their kid is not good at Math. Consequently, kids are sent to tuitions and coaching centres with the hope that they will get better at the subject. In principle, this seems fine but again for someone who struggles with the basics of subject, such tuitions are a waste of time and money and can only contribute to the development of a dislike for this subject.
As a nation, we need to work on our primary education system and ensure that we have a pool of teachers who are motivated and enthusiastic to teach their subject. This holds true for any subject, be it Math, Science or English. For a subject like Math, it is also important that teachers can come up with newer ideas of teaching like formulating Math problems that seem to come from the real world and are much less abstract. For instance, it would be great if we could rephrase those conventional “Find x” problems in a manner that they do not look that unreal.
At the same time, it also becomes pertinent that refresher courses are organized for teachers; every now and then so that they can update the knowledge of their subject and sustain the interest they had at the beginning of their teaching careers. I have been fortunate enough to participate in one of such endeavours by Azim Premji Foundation – the program is called MISSION 10X (http://www.mission10x.com/) and is intended to enhance the employability skills of engineering graduates and hence involves the training of faculty members across different engineering colleges to enhance their teaching skills and to make teaching more interactive and effective.
Similarly, international competitions like Math Olympiad should be popularized and students should be encouraged to come forward and participate. Students who do well in such competitions should be suitably rewarded; they definitely deserve their place in the sun. After all, we need not glorify the kid next door who secured a top rank in IIT-JEE and later ended up working with Google or Facebook, always. Would not it be wonderful to see a coaching centre that trains students for International Math Olympiad? We do not need to look too far for inspiration for such efforts either. Anand Kumar’s Super-30 (http://super30.org/) is an institution that has worked successfully for underprivileged students (even though it is intended to impart coaching for the IIT-JEE exam), but the model is successful nevertheless and I believe more such endeavours can really push the cause.
It is time we made mark as a nation that just does not produce good programmers and IT professionals but also people who are Mathematicians by heart and true descendants of Ramanujan.
About the author: The author is an Assistant Professor at a private university in India and has close to 6 years of experience of teaching Math to under-graduate and post-graduate students.
The question continues to baffle me: How could people hate Math? When I went to the school, what fascinated me the most about the subject was the fact that it involved very little cramming or mugging up facts (barring, of course, a few formulae). This definitely is in sharp contrast to most of the subjects that we studied at school like English, History, Geography and even Science, to an extent. If we look at this problem at a superficial level, it is clear that students (some of them, atleast) do not like the subject even though the same students might be doing well in other subjects (which involve lots of mugging up). This implies a fact that appears a bit counter-intuitive - are students good at cramming lessons while being rather bad at the same time for things that need understanding?
I tried to explore this problem in a greater detail and talked to some of my classmates and a few students whom I have taught over a period of six years (particularly those who were bad at Mathematics). The conversations brought to fore, some of the facts that adequately show the fallacies of our education system. It turned out that most of the people who had a phobia of the subject had a very bad first impression about it, courtesy the teachers who taught them at the primary school. Some of the teachers were inadequately trained to teach the subject and this only added to the confusion among the minds of the students. Others were way too remote to reach out to their students or had poor communication skills and hence were never able to create an interest among the students for the subject. In the former case, the students develop a fear for the subject while in the latter; they might be fine with it but never develop an interest and hence hardly appreciate the content and the richness of the subject. As a result, very few of them choose Maths as their primary subject for undergraduate studies.
Additionally, there is a tendency among the parents to create an unnecessary hype about the subject and put them under undue pressure to take tuitions as soon as they find out that their kid is not good at Math. Consequently, kids are sent to tuitions and coaching centres with the hope that they will get better at the subject. In principle, this seems fine but again for someone who struggles with the basics of subject, such tuitions are a waste of time and money and can only contribute to the development of a dislike for this subject.
As a nation, we need to work on our primary education system and ensure that we have a pool of teachers who are motivated and enthusiastic to teach their subject. This holds true for any subject, be it Math, Science or English. For a subject like Math, it is also important that teachers can come up with newer ideas of teaching like formulating Math problems that seem to come from the real world and are much less abstract. For instance, it would be great if we could rephrase those conventional “Find x” problems in a manner that they do not look that unreal.
At the same time, it also becomes pertinent that refresher courses are organized for teachers; every now and then so that they can update the knowledge of their subject and sustain the interest they had at the beginning of their teaching careers. I have been fortunate enough to participate in one of such endeavours by Azim Premji Foundation – the program is called MISSION 10X (http://www.mission10x.com/) and is intended to enhance the employability skills of engineering graduates and hence involves the training of faculty members across different engineering colleges to enhance their teaching skills and to make teaching more interactive and effective.
Similarly, international competitions like Math Olympiad should be popularized and students should be encouraged to come forward and participate. Students who do well in such competitions should be suitably rewarded; they definitely deserve their place in the sun. After all, we need not glorify the kid next door who secured a top rank in IIT-JEE and later ended up working with Google or Facebook, always. Would not it be wonderful to see a coaching centre that trains students for International Math Olympiad? We do not need to look too far for inspiration for such efforts either. Anand Kumar’s Super-30 (http://super30.org/) is an institution that has worked successfully for underprivileged students (even though it is intended to impart coaching for the IIT-JEE exam), but the model is successful nevertheless and I believe more such endeavours can really push the cause.
It is time we made mark as a nation that just does not produce good programmers and IT professionals but also people who are Mathematicians by heart and true descendants of Ramanujan.
About the author: The author is an Assistant Professor at a private university in India and has close to 6 years of experience of teaching Math to under-graduate and post-graduate students.
