Introduction
A common question/theme within the mathematics department that keeps reappearing time and time again is, "when am I ever going to use this" or "when is this going to be useful to me". Even I can say that the same thoughts had crossed my mind when studying surds in year seven. This can be a frustrating sticking point for both students and teachers alike. Consequently more questions have arisen from this such as: are certain topics too abstract? Has the application of mathematics been properly communicated to students? Is the importance of mathematics lost within the classroom? Finally is this impacting their learning and more specifically their engagement? Within this article I would like to critically analyse these questions within a modern context.
Background
For me mathematics has always been a fundamental aspect of my life, my viewpoint and quite possibly one of the most important aspects of education that has been utilised as a universal language and tool across the world and generations.
“One of the greatest achievements of modern mathematics was once described as discovering what the topics really is.” (Russell, 1901) …show more content…
Implying, that a contextual based teaching approach would not only be beneficial to learning but implant a concrete understanding of the subject that has meaning.
The underlying premise of context teaching/learning is based on meaning emerging from the relationship between content and its context. Allowing students to connect with the content being taught. If teachers are able to provide the students with more connections and an expansive range of contexts then they will be able to ascertain a more concrete relationship with the content; and they will be able to derive more meaning from the
A common question/theme within the mathematics department that keeps reappearing time and time again is, "when am I ever going to use this" or "when is this going to be useful to me". Even I can say that the same thoughts had crossed my mind when studying surds in year seven. This can be a frustrating sticking point for both students and teachers alike. Consequently more questions have arisen from this such as: are certain topics too abstract? Has the application of mathematics been properly communicated to students? Is the importance of mathematics lost within the classroom? Finally is this impacting their learning and more specifically their engagement? Within this article I would like to critically analyse these questions within a modern context.
Background
For me mathematics has always been a fundamental aspect of my life, my viewpoint and quite possibly one of the most important aspects of education that has been utilised as a universal language and tool across the world and generations.
“One of the greatest achievements of modern mathematics was once described as discovering what the topics really is.” (Russell, 1901) …show more content…
Implying, that a contextual based teaching approach would not only be beneficial to learning but implant a concrete understanding of the subject that has meaning.
The underlying premise of context teaching/learning is based on meaning emerging from the relationship between content and its context. Allowing students to connect with the content being taught. If teachers are able to provide the students with more connections and an expansive range of contexts then they will be able to ascertain a more concrete relationship with the content; and they will be able to derive more meaning from the