Value in maths

Why Can Values be Enhanced by Teaching Mathematics via Problem Solving?

Increasing numbers of individuals need to be able to think for themselves in a constantly changing environment, particularly as technology is making larger quantities of information easier to access and to manipulate. They also need to be able to adapt to unfamiliar or unpredictable situations more easily than people needed to in the past. Teaching mathematics encompasses skills and functions which are a part of everyday life.

Examples:

• reading a map to find directions
• understanding weather reports
• understanding economic indicators
• understanding loan repayments
• calculating whether the cheapest item is the best buy

Presenting a problem and developing the skills needed to solve that problem is more motivational than teaching the skills without a context. It allows the students to see a reason for learning the mathematics, and hence to become more deeply involved in learning it. Teaching through problem solving can enhance logical reasoning, helping people to be able to decide what rule, if any, a situation requires, or if necessary to develop their own rules in a situation where an existing rule cannot be directly applied. Problem solving can also allow the whole person to develop by experiencing the full range of emotions associated with various stages of the solution process.

Examples:

• The problem that we worked on today had us make a hypothesis. Through testing, our hypothesis was proven incorrect. The problem solving approach allowed our group to find this out for ourselves, which made the "bitter pill" of our mistake easier to follow.
• I found this activity to be quite a challenge. I felt intimidated because I could not see an immediate solution,and wanted to give up. I was gripped by a feeling of panic. I had to read the question many times before I understood what I had to find. I really had to "dig down" into the depths of my memory to recall the knowledge I needed to solve the problem.