I’m a Math Mind
November 29, 2013 • Written by Academic Success Centre
The value of a problem is not so much coming up with the answer as in the ideas and attempted ideas it forces on the would be solver.” I.N. Herstein
I’m a Math Mind
A note from Dayna Graham, your Academic Coach at the Academic Success Centre
Have you ever heard someone say “I’m not a math mind”? Have you said it yourself? If we had a dollar for every time we’ve heard that phrase we’d have….well, you do the math.
Think back to a time when you felt you weren’t a math mind. Was it in grade 11 Math when you were asked to illustrate and interpret graphs of exponential functions? Does this take you down memory lane? Graph the function:
If you’re like me, you left those skills right where you learned them: in the classroom. You most likely did not need to utilize them on the weekend or while going about daily life.
Imagine however if you did use those very math skills the next day. Do you think you’d have a better chance of remembering the steps? Wouldn’t it be great if math was taught using real-world practice applications?
RRC programs teach career-related math
Luckily at RRC you do learn math for real-world situations. Now, suppose for example you are a first year Animal Health Tech student. You are in your practicum and a client comes rushing into your clinic with his injured collie. You ask detective-like questions, examine the dog, convert the animal’s weight from pounds to kilograms and calculate the dosage for treatment.
You do all this with skill, ease and efficacy. Why? Because the math was in your context and it was one component of your work task. You placed math within the big picture of your clinic, and it was linked to things like your interpersonal skills, asking smart questions and animal care. The math wasn’t an isolated, abstract case; it was visual to you and part of the bigger story.
Perhaps, during your math history, you were given thousands of textbook equations. The real world however doesn’t present us with textbook problems. The reason you excel in your area of study is because you know how to solve story/word problems, as in diagnosing and treating Fido. You have learned to contemplate and comprehend the mathematical ideas needed for the stories you’ll solve in your clinic.
Next time you are inclined to say “I’m not a math mind” pause and think about it. You may actually mean something like “I may not be an exponential functions math mind, but I most certainly am an accomplished Animal Health Tech math mind.” Read More →