One math genius thinks so. Meet Stefan Buijsman, a man who got his Ph.D. in mathematics at age 20. He suggests that educators teach kids mathematics by showing how it works when applied to real-world problems.
Instead of studying random formulas and forcing younger students to memorize them so they can apply them to repetitive problems, Buijsman suggests that kids should learn from how it is applied in applications such as online search engines, navigation apps, and even the algorithms used in Netflix for suggesting what shows their users could watch.
“Everyone enjoys saying how much they hated math in high school and how lucky they are that they’ve never had to use it since. The truth is that I also hated graphs and formulas in high school and as an undergraduate. I remember a night of [studying] formulas and graphs, and of my asking myself why we even needed it,” the scholar explains.
While it seems too complex to handle for students in lower educational levels, Buijsman clarifies that only the basics will be covered. Additionally, he suggests that educators should explain what using a certain mathematic principle is supposed to be and why it was developed in the first place. “In statistics, for example, let’s let them solve formulas that will calculate the probability of violating the security of a WhatsApp message,” he further suggested.
Somehow, while this idea posts some benefits, we are one of the few who are relieved to avoid this in schools. We’ll just stick to watching shows on Netflix, thank you very much!
Image credit: cottonbro studio
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