A Letter to Math Teachers

Dear Math Teacher,

Helping Students Love Mathematics

As a mathematician, it is worrisome to me that students are afraid of mathematics. And I am not completely out of those in that category. That’s why I decided to write to all math teachers all over the globe, of which I am part…

In elementary school, you hear many pupils say that their favorite subject is mathematics. Then that number decreases when they get to high school. Then even more in the university. I think that the methodology of teaching math is what is responsible for these trends.

Consider, for example, elementary school. The children are taught addition by counting sweets, which is what’s important to them. I think that’s what makes the whole subject interesting. The child thinks: “I can know how many sweets I have always if I just know how to count!” They have a motivation. So they love math and then learn it easily.

Then later, they go to high school and it is interesting until they see a lot of geometry and calculus. Then, they just say, “You know what, I have done a lot of mathematics already. Let’s stop here.”

P.S: I must actually say personally that high school math was very interesting to me.

Those who were bold enough to study math in university then come across giant lemmas and theories that they are supposed to understand and know why it works and sometimes, it doesn’t just make sense. They hear the teacher saying, “This is a beautiful proof.” And the student many times can’t see any beauty.

What are my proposed solutions?

1. Start the course with a motivation. Tell them what they will be able to do by the end of the class. As much as possible, make it interesting.
2. Give an intuition of the topic. Before all the equations are written on the board, give an intuition of the topic. Let them see it without the ‘equation lens’.
3. See how to bring real-life applications to what you teach. I understand that some concepts are really abstract, especially in college. But try to see if there are real-life applications to them.
4. Give as many in-class quizzes as possible. And give the solutions too after they are done. It helps to build confidence.
5. As much as possible, encourage the students by telling them that they are doing well and can do better.
6. There is something I call ‘The Compound Effect of Mathematics’. Many concepts in math have their applications in later classes. Please, try to finish the syllabus so that they can be well prepared for the later classes.
7. This is the last and probably the most important. Explain the math concepts like you were talking to your five-year-old sibling.

I strongly believe in the simplicity of life. And I think that we as math teachers should help keep it that way. Let’s make life simple.

I hope that this letter finds relevance and helps us to be better math teachers in whatever capacity we teach.

Ifeoma Veronica Nwabufo