Surviving Math at MdO Highschool!
Making Math Interesting
Like many students, I didn’t like math . Memorization, repetitive worksheets, stressing about grades, cramming for finals — no wonder so many people hate math! But you have to take responsibility for your own education; only you can make yourself interested in a subject. Here are a few ways to help yourself enjoy learning math:
Know what math really is. Math isn’t about arithmetic or memorizing formulas. It’s about problem-solving, deducing truth, and exploring the concepts of change, quantity and structure. Take a glance at Wikipedia’s entry on Mathematics for more details — it’s actually an interesting read.
Learn to apply math. Like I said, math is all about problem-solving; so, use it to solve your problems! This is what makes math a creative subject as well as a logical one. Sure, applied mathematics is quite advanced, but identifying a use for it will motivate you to work your way up. Math classes generally teach students the formulas before giving any examples of how they can be applied, but perhaps it’d be more interesting if you started with a real-world problem that requires math and worked backwards, finding the formulas that you would need. I might try this myself.
Explore the history of math. This won’t help everyone, of course. “Ew, math and history? Are you trying to kill me?” I don’t like history much, either, but it adds another dimension to the study of mathematics. Take a break from math problems and do some reading. Try learning the origin of a formula before you learn how to use it. Who discovered it? How? Why? What I hated most about math class was not having time to answer those kinds of questions. The teacher have to finish the lesson plan every day, and I have to spend my time on homework every night. That’s why I highly recommend learning math (or any other subject) on your own; you can leave room for yourself to stray off topic.
Relate math to other subjects. Math relates to music, art, architecture, business, science, and even philosophy. If you’re interested in any of those, then learn about them while you learn about math. I’m hoping to write posts about all of those subjects in the future, and I plan to find out for myself just how well math can help with them. In the meantime, here are a couple interesting websites: Wolfram Tones: An Experiment in a New Kind of Music (interactive) and A Logarithmic Image Transformation (at least scroll through to see the cool images).
Surround yourself with math enthusiasts. Sure, you sit with a bunch of other students in math class, but the students rarely talk to each other about math. Most of them don’t want to be there, and it shows. Get inspired by joining a group of people that are passionate about math — people who truly want to learn and discuss it.
Hang in for the long haul. I was surprised at how many math enthusiasts said that learning math shouldn’t be fun. They brought up a good point, though: it can’t all be fun. enjoying math is like Enjoying chess; it becomes more interesting over time. Like learning a new language or learning to play an instrument, mathematics doesn’t become truly rewarding until you’ve made a long-term commitment to it.
So, tell me: what do you think of math? Love it? Hate it? How do you think we could make it more interesting? Its only up to you:-)
