Essay On Importance Of Mathematics Education

“Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.” Shakuntala Devi, popularly known as the ‘mental calculator’ was an Indian writer who understood the importance of mathematics in one’s life. Following her belief, I am confident in saying mathematics is one of the most essential subjects one learns during their academic career. However, I firmly believe that mathematics education needs to be effective. In order to be effective, instructors need to teach students information that is directly related to their lives in a manner that does not cause unnecessary stress on students and rather makes learning mathematics enjoyable for students. Effective mathematics education also …show more content…
At least once a day, someone in my class, even me at times, would ask our instructor where we would use what we were learning in real life. Sometimes, he would be able to draw on examples in the book and formulate a reason that was sufficient. However, at other times, he was unable to relate the information we were learning to an aspect of the ‘real-world’ and would simply address the question by telling the class we were learning the topic because it was covered in the textbook and we would need to know how to accurately complete the exercises to pass the cumulative exam. The latter of the two answers my instructor gave our class is insufficient and should not have to be the answer any student hears when inquiring on the why they are learning a given topic. This being said, in order for mathematics education to be effective, the instructors need to address information that has a direct impact on students’ lives and have solid information to back up reasoning for addressing any given topic. By following this general rule of thumb, students, in turn, will be more willing to learn the new information being presented to them and be motivated to master the