I’ve written before about the need to focus on the affective side of learning mathematics. It is a topic I am quite passionate about and it is the focus of my Ph.D. research in math education. I feel strongly enough about it that when people ask me what I teach I don’t respond with “I teach math,” or “I teach geometry,” or “I teach statistics.” Rather, I respond with “I teach math appreciation.” I think that is a much more apt description of our calling as math educators. We love math and the majority of students do not. Our goal is not to simply transfer our intellectual knowledge to the students, but to infect them with out enthusiasm.
I have been encouraged to see a recent publication come to my attention that address this matter. It was a New York Times article titled “How to Fall in Love with Math.” While I don’t necessarily agree with the conclusion of the article, that the solution to the problem is to be found in technology, it is nice to see the problem of mathematical affections being raised in the first place. I also enjoyed the opening of the article where the author clearly states what every math educator knows that nobody else does: when people say things like “do the math” they reveal that the public perception is that mathematics and arithmetic are the same thing. In reality arithmetic is an extremely small subset of mathematics. Mathematics as a discipline has something much grander than simply addition and multiplication that propels it forward. As the author states:
As a mathematician, I can attest that my field is really about ideas above anything else. Ideas that inform our existence, that permeate our universe and beyond, that can surprise and enthrall.
This week I had the pleasure of writing a short note about my Geometry students’ spring project for my school’s newsletter. I thought I would include that below (as well as some pictures that weren’t included in the newsletter). I’ll provide a full write up here upon the completion of the semester.
Regents high school students are partnering with a local ministry to apply their math skills. Please read this inspiring story from Mr. Josh Wilkerson. He is one of our math teachers in the School of Rhetoric.
~ Rod Gilbert, Head of School
1 Peter 4:10 commands us: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
I use this foundational truth as the basis to address that customary question of the high school mathematics classroom: When am I ever going to use these math concepts? God instilled a mathematical gift into every human being, enabling humanity to fulfill the purposes of the Great Commandment (to love our neighbors) and the Great Commission (to take the good news to all people). How might we employ our “math-mindedness” in serving others as the Apostle Peter commands?
Mobile Loaves and Fishes (MLF) ministers to the homeless community here in Austin. They recently purchased a tract of land on which they plan to construct an affordable living community for the chronically homeless called Community First. The acreage includes space for trailers, RVs, micro-homes designed by University of Texas architecture students, a large garden with animals, a workshop, chapel, and a medical facility all in the hopes of being a self-sustaining community. The vision of Community First seeks to overcome the homeless mindset and demonstrate that home is more than a physical structure. Home is relationships and far more than just a roof.
MLF graciously allowed our freshman geometry class to participate with them in this project. They have asked our students to utilize their understanding of geometry by designing an awning for RVs. These awnings provide shade and protection to the roof of the RV but it is also creative and energy efficient. Furthermore, these awnings contribute to the mission of MLF in developing relationships and fostering true community.
This past Monday the students visited the MLF Community First project site so they could see the immediate fruit of their labor. The students spent time hearing directly from MLF representatives about their vision and their heart for the homeless, and also about the very real need they have in their design process that the students can meet. There were many questions asked, many measurements taken, and then more questions asked. The MLF representatives were very accommodating and thrilled to see the excitement that the students of Regents had over this opportunity. At the end of the project, these same MLF representatives will travel to Regents to hear the presentation of each team of students and then select a winning design.
As their teacher, I marvel at these students as they mature to understand that learning has NO meaning unless it produces a sustained and substantial influence not only on the way people think, but also on how they act, feel, worship, and serve. I am excited to see what the remainder of this semester holds.
Josh Wilkerson
SOR Mathematics Appreciation Teacher
Appreciating AP Statistics and Geometry www.GodandMath.com
Additional Pictures Not Included in the Newsletter:
Students hearing a presentation from MLFDiscussing layout with Dave Sekel of MLFStudents analyzing the RV that they will design an awning forAnalyzing EVERY component of the RV
ABSTRACT: Georg Cantor is well known as the founder of transfinite set theory. Equally celebrated, however, are the obstacles he faced in trying to win acceptance for his seemingly unorthodox views, his acrimonious differences with Leopold Kronecker and his unfortunate but progressively debilitating nervous breakdowns that some authors have linked directly to his many problems with set theory. Above all, Cantor’s justification of set theory was all the more urgent because of Kronecker’s critical denunciation of Cantor’s mathematics. In tracing the evolution of Cantorian set theory, it is necessary to examine the opposition it met, and evaluate the technical, philosophical, psychological, and even theological dimensions related to Cantor’s creation and defense of his theory.
GOD & MATH: Thinking Christianly About Math Education 