Purpose of Mathematics

One of the biggest points on realities and facts of life to get across to teachers is that Math has a purpose beyond the classroom. However, this purpose rarely gets taught to students, and students rarely experience it because they are caught up in learning standards that are being assessed on them.

It is too conventional that the purpose of math is to learn a skill that leads to a grade on a report card. Students rarely ask themselves why they study English, this is so because reading and writing is everywhere. Same true also for Science, mostly it is about the world around them. As for Social Studies, they go by the quote of Edmund Burke, “Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” What is left then for Mathematics?

There are people who can write for pages that Math is an art in its form that contains an inherent beauty, so the purpose of which is wrapped in its beauty. Others say that Math teaches logic and problem solving, and therein lies the true purpose. On the contrary, none of these contain in Math.

We should see Math beyond to help us better understand and describe the world around us. There is real-life application of almost every form of mathematics. It does not mean that the learner will use every piece of mathematics that they learn, but it does mean this can show them how it can be used that bit of mathematics to understand and explain something around us.

Math lessons based on real life situations can help students discover and learn the very purpose of Mathematics. An example of which is when the students learn to write slope-intercept form equations.

And even more, to see that the equation used can make projections in business when the profit is made per customer and to know a monthly loss for this is by making complex ratios.

Much like also using complex ratios is to help students understand how much of a pop song in the chorus there is by solving it in two-step equations. Again in using this equation is to decrypt messages and then try to crack someone else's message. This is how encryption works and wherein algebra really is used for something. Another purpose example of Math is when every time the shuffle mode is on a music player and by this is jotting down to calculate the probability of a favorite song coming on next. These are the challenges to exemplify how the purpose of Math takes into play in real world.

There is real-life application in almost every form of Mathematics. It does not mean that every student will use every piece of mathematics that they learn, but it does mean we can show them how we can use that bit of mathematics to understand and explain something around us. As Math teachers, let us help our students see that math is here to help with better understanding and explaining the world around us. Incorporate real-life math lessons for further understanding. Our students will be beneficial of it, and there is a great probability that we will enjoy teaching even more than we normally do.