It is normal to hear people say that
they dislike Mathematics but come to think of it; what is mathematics,
really? It is the science of numbers, quantities, and shapes and the
relations between them. So says the Miriam-Webster Dictionary in a
nutshell. Well, the word “Science” might make most of us think, “Oh!
Then I guess it’s left for the science students!” You might be right in a
sense. Through the years, we’ve met logic, simple sums, and short
mathematical word problems. We could also remember we felt right when we
got the problems correct. We struggled at times just to get through
Math and after high school, we’re glad we won’t have to do calculus
again in our lives. We are totally ecstatic about the fact that we
wouldn’t face math again. Yet, in our daily analysis, we apply math; in
our kitchens, we solve math problems; when we spend money, we make
mental sums and subtractions. But we hate MATHEMATICS.
The question is: WHY DO WE HATE MATHEMATICS? A little survey from friends and correspondents and the net got us these results:
- We don’t really know what we hate. Sometimes, we hate the teacher or lecturer teaching us mathematics. He probably does not know how we feel towards the subject. He might not share in our likes and interests. He punished me for not doing well in the last evaluation.
- No matter how hard I study Mathematics, I don’t seem to be getting the answers right.
- OK! Mathematics is no longer deductive at this stage. Then I used to enjoy doing Math problems, but now, I think I have to memorize it.
- Math is a foreign language.
- I might not apply it in future. I already know how to do my simple arithmetic
Looking at this popular complexity
called math and the excuses, it’s obvious that the mindset you have
about any field of life determines how far you would go in that field.
Most times, we saw Math as a bundle of arithmetic drills and recurring
problems we had to solve to make better grades. It was like some kind of
work our teachers and parents wanted us to do.
WHAT THEN DO WE DO?
A brief history of Math would remind us
that most ancient mathematicians were philosophers. Plato, Pythagoras,
Thales, Eudoxus, Archimedes are only to mention but an infinitesimal
fraction of mathematicians who were known philosophers in antiquity. The
medieval times and the scientific revolution had more to reveal. If
only we realized the beauty in Mathematics, we would not have despised
the course. Recognizing the creativity in math requires help. We might
have to be the actuators of that help, to ourselves, and to others who
have given up on Mathematics. A few things we can do are:
- Some books can actually take our interest in Math to the next level. An example for non-mathematicians is Journey through Genius: the Great Theorems of Mathematics by William Dunham. If you’d be going on in Mathematics. There are many other good books to concentrate on pure mathematics.
- It is not untrue that many teachers have failed to communicate the aesthetic structure of Mathematics to their students; it lies in our hands to make this subject of study interesting. We can meet friends, find out why every fact is so and not just accept them as they are. Creating problems for ourselves and trying to solve them can be a very good resort.
- Are you a Nigerian student and you’re afraid of registering Mathematics in your JAMB (Joint Administration and Matriculation Board) Examination because you think you will fail it? You can get the syllabus below. Take every topic one at a time and find out all you can about each one, not restricting yourself to just information from the textbook.
JAMB MATHEMATICS SYLLABUS FOR 2015/2016 ACADEMIC SESSION
SECTION ONE: NUMBER AND NUMERATION
- NUMBER BASES
- FRACTIONS, DECIMALS, APPROXIMATIONS AND PERCENTAGES
- INDICES, LOGARITHMS AND SURDS
Ø SETS
SECTION TWO: ALGEBRA
- POLYNOMIALS
- VARIATION
- INEQUALITIES
- PROGRESSION
- BINARY OPERATIONS
Ø MATRICES AND DETERMINANTS
SECTION THREE: GEOMETRY AND TRIGNOMETRY
- EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY
- MENSURATION
- LOCI
- COORDINATE GEOMETRY
Ø TRIGNOMETRY
SECTION FOUR: CALCULUS
- DIFFERENTIATION
- APPLICATION OF DIFFERENTIATION
Ø INTEGRATION
SECTION FIVE: STATISTICS
- REPRESENTATION OF DATA
- MEASURES OF LOCATION
- MEASURES OF DISPERSION
- PERMUTATION AND COMBINATION
Ø PROBABILITY
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Adelodun A. A (2000). Distinction in Mathematics: Comprehensive Revision Text, (3rd Edition) Ado –Ekiti: FNPL.
Anyebe, J. A. B (1998). Basic Mathematics for Senior Secondary Schools and Remedial Students in Higher/ institutions, Lagos: Kenny Moore.
Channon, J. B. Smith, A. M (2001). New General Mathematics for West Africa SSS 1 to 3, Lagos: Longman.
David –Osuagwu, M. name(s)? (2000). New School Mathematics for Senior Secondary Schools, Onitsha: Africana – FIRST Publishers
Egbe. E name(s)? (2000). Further Mathematics, Onitsha: Africana – FIRST Publishers
Ibude, S. O. name(s)? (2003). Algebra and Calculus for Schools and Colleges: LINCEL Publishers.
Tuttuh – Adegun M. R. name(s)? (1997). Further Mathematics Project Books 1 to 3, Ibadan: NPS Educational
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