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How we learn about numbers matters

Writer's picture: Seema SutradharSeema Sutradhar

Numbers are not just numbers. A number can represent anything; a piece of chocolate, the time we have to do something, the number of apples we need to buy or very significant things like the weight of gold, the weight of nuclear fuel, the interest rate, the time a space shuttle is to lift off, the list is endless on both ends. It is one of the most versatile tools/language civilisation has given humanity. I ponder how much we value the meaning of numbers when we either learn or practice them.


I have noticed in our education system mathematics is taught mechanically. What I mean is that when learning mathematical theorems or concepts, we hardly apply them to real problems in an authentic and creative way. The students are limited to some standard word problems to solve. They cram it and score. It's easily doable, but is that creativity? Numbers hold immense power in solving problems, but where to apply and how to apply is the real creativity. And that needs both that grounding in the application, the problem you are trying to solve and then definitely, the application of mathematical muscle. It is incomplete without either of them - only mathematical muscle or understanding of the problem cannot give those powerful outcomes.


I am reflecting on this today as I love mathematics, but I was different. I did not study from building the mathematical muscle but was very interested in its application. Every new chapter in middle school and high school mathematics was a new world to me. What does that mathematical theorem mean, and how does it actually connect with real life? Not many teachers and tutors focused on this. It was then difficult for me to just follow the concepts without a foundation. But once I grasped that, it was beautiful. I was fortunate to find one such teacher in my final year of high school who really appreciated my unique perspectives and had one word "Beauty". So why am I sharing this in my random box today? I feel proud of what I have accomplished as a problem solver, and I want to say this is the right way to learn, teach and value mathematics to preserve the creativity and fortitude it gives us, not just the muscle power of numbers and score for the sake of it. This way of learning has left me to reapply mathematics as my learnings are now from an anthropological lens - how the world works, the cultures and the history and the burning problems we need to solve today by learning from them.











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