As my last math class is coming to an end, I can not help but be a little nervous. I feel like I have learned so much, but have no idea on how I am going to remember everything and know when to use different tactics or types of activities. In my capstone class, MTH 495 I have learned all about the history of many great mathematicians and their findings. Throughout the class we asked our selves one main question, is math invented or discovered, and before this class I feel as though I would not have known enough information to answer that question fully, but now I feel like I do. Learning the history about how mathematicians used the world around them to create different Theorems I would consider it to be both discovery and invented.
Now I know that sounds impossible, but the way I look at it is that math today is not just what we do, but how we do it. So yes, mathematicians discovered a lot of things about the world and used those discoveries to make Theorems, but as far as the way we communicate mathematics such as "6+2=8" is invented. I say this because it can change at anytime, just like the Roman Numeral system changed. Our symbols and language of mathematics is invented, but their meanings are discovered. Before this class, I would have said that mathematics is invented, not realizing that all of the mathematical foundation that I have been using since I was in kindergarten is based off of my surroundings. I think that this is a very important aspect to think about, and being that I am a future educator I would love to incorporate this type of critical thinking in my classroom.
I think that students these days view math as the enemy because to them it is a list of rules to constantly follow and if you mess up a little at any point the whole problem is wrong. I want students to realize how important mathematics is and how much more there is to it other than steps and procedures. In my class we did plenty of activities such as bungee jumping, magic squares, tessellations etc. that all dealt with using the things around us to learn off of. All of the activities were very beneficial in learning and they definitely made me ask myself more questions, which is what I want my students to do. From doing all of these activities and gaining the background knowledge of these mathematicians I was able to form an answer to the questions "is math invented or discovered" with a reasoning! I would love to incorporate this question in my classroom so students are able to say what they think and have a good reasoning. The best part about this question is that there is no right or wrong answer, as long as the person has a good reasoning. Critical thinking and reasoning is very important for students to learn and I believe that using activities and questions that need reasoning is a good place to start.
Now I know that sounds impossible, but the way I look at it is that math today is not just what we do, but how we do it. So yes, mathematicians discovered a lot of things about the world and used those discoveries to make Theorems, but as far as the way we communicate mathematics such as "6+2=8" is invented. I say this because it can change at anytime, just like the Roman Numeral system changed. Our symbols and language of mathematics is invented, but their meanings are discovered. Before this class, I would have said that mathematics is invented, not realizing that all of the mathematical foundation that I have been using since I was in kindergarten is based off of my surroundings. I think that this is a very important aspect to think about, and being that I am a future educator I would love to incorporate this type of critical thinking in my classroom.
I think that students these days view math as the enemy because to them it is a list of rules to constantly follow and if you mess up a little at any point the whole problem is wrong. I want students to realize how important mathematics is and how much more there is to it other than steps and procedures. In my class we did plenty of activities such as bungee jumping, magic squares, tessellations etc. that all dealt with using the things around us to learn off of. All of the activities were very beneficial in learning and they definitely made me ask myself more questions, which is what I want my students to do. From doing all of these activities and gaining the background knowledge of these mathematicians I was able to form an answer to the questions "is math invented or discovered" with a reasoning! I would love to incorporate this question in my classroom so students are able to say what they think and have a good reasoning. The best part about this question is that there is no right or wrong answer, as long as the person has a good reasoning. Critical thinking and reasoning is very important for students to learn and I believe that using activities and questions that need reasoning is a good place to start.