The Evolution of Maths

The Evolution of Maths How Has Learning Maths Changed Throughout The Years? ChaptersLearning Maths in the 19th CenturyMaths Education since the 1960sPsychology’s Role in Mathematics and Science EducationTime for Reform?What will Tomorrow's Maths Tuition look like?Maths teaching in schools has evolved greatly over the last two centuries.While there will always be room for further improvement, great advances have been made in methods to bring maths into the everyday lives of all pupils.Here's a look at the recent history of maths tuition, to understand how we go to where we are today.logarithms and trigonometry, possible for every student.Essential to an education in maths is a good grounding in the vocabulary of mathematics.Early conceptual understanding of mathematics:Research has shown that the kind of maths input that children are exposed to during preschool plays a key role in determining early individual differences in maths competence, demonstrated at school.Children from families of lower socioeconomic status are frequently exposed to less maths in t heir early years, which may in part explain the achievement gap seen at school.Conceptual understanding of science:The language of science is confusingly similar to everyday language: Everyday words often have completely different meanings in mathematics and science, which may be a source of difficulty for students. Linguistic psychology may be able to highlight areas in which prior knowledge causes confusion in this way.Social and motivational involvement in mathematics and science:A variety of social and motivational factors, including gender and race identity stereotypes, have been shown through decades of research to be linked to academic achievement, with a knock-on effect on aspirations.It is still true, for example, that by far the majority of students undertaking maths degrees at universities are male.A student’s intrinsic motivation â€" their inner drive to complete a task â€" can be developed by applying teaching strategies which tap into the child’s natural curiosity about the world and how things work.Assessment of learning in mathematics and science:Effective testing is aligned with an effective curriculum that focuses on understanding the nature of science and maths. Technology-enhanced instruction can be used to provide detailed information on how students are learning and what problems stand in their way of progress. Learn how maths and Art are closely linked.Time for Reform?The UK was ranked 27th for maths in the most recent worldwide PISA ranking: Its lowest place since first participating in the scheme.But are ranking positions a sensible goal for education?If the goal of education is to prepare the next generation to take their place in the world, then how about shifting focus to relevance, instead of rankings?Maths education must prepare the next generation for the world of tomorrow  (Source: commons.wikimedia.org  - Ministerio de Educación, Columbia)According to a 2014 Guardian article, the problem with maths education lies in;“the […] difference between maths in education and maths in the real world: everywhere, we are teaching largely the wrong maths […]. In the real world we use computers for calculating, almost universally; in education we use people for calculating, almost universally.”At a time when maths, in the form of IT; telecommunications; artificial intelligence; automation and more are increasingly responsible for running the background processes of daily life, maths education still places an emphasis on laboriously practising skills that have long since become mechanised and delegated to computers, in the real world.Students lack exposure to real world maths problems, in favour of simplified ‘toy’ problems. While real problems are messier and more complicated, they can be handled by using computers to deal with the calculations.This current approach leads to students forming the impression that maths is irrelevant to their lives, when in fact the opposite is true, and increasingly so.T here is a growing divide between the maths that students are faced with in school, and real-life needs. The mathematical demands of the real world are increasingly complex, but our educational systems are taking the wrong direction in closing the gap.We should ditch the rote learning of mental maths calculations, and get students to tackle real world examples, using the power of computing and calculus. Examining statistics, cracking cyphers or redesigning public transport systems would show students the creativity, lateral thinking and conceptual understanding needed to solve complex problems from the real world â€" with the power of computer calculations.The UK has recently joined the small club of countries in which coding is part of the school educational system. Coding is the language of computers and a necessary step towards solving complex calculations and mathematics.Estonia was the first country to push coding in schools and to implement a computer-based educational system f or the teaching of maths. It’s also the top-ranked country in Europe in the PISA rankings.Find the perfect math tutor on Superprof.What will Tomorrow's Maths Tuition look like?Ideally, maths instruction will become more connected to real life, and take into consideration students from all backgrounds.Computers and coding will be  central to the future of education  (Source:  Max Pixel)Here are some of the challenges that need to be addressed in order for quality mathematics education to be available to all:Make demonstrations, for example in geometry, more accessible to the majority of students.Make exercises relevant to real-life situations, to combat the perception that  mathematics is divorced from and irrelevant to everyday life.Allow for differences within the same class (students who struggle and those who find maths easy) while building on a common core of mathematics.Empower teachers to tailor their courses to their students' needs through customised exercises.Place an e mphasis on the relevance of maths to careers following higher education.How maths is taught is constantly evolving. Many teachers agree that this evolution is a positive phenomenon, whether through the influence of scientific subjects, artistic subjects the definition of a common core for classes to follow.An objective for maths teaching in years to come should be a reduction in the number of students failing the subject due to the pressure of over-demanding instruction.What will the 21st-century hold by way of changes in the way maths is taught?Learn about the Genius of Albert Einstein and his contribution to Maths.