The Future Of Maths Education
How To Fix Education — Part 2
When math is done in the real world by engineers, data scientists or actuaries, computers are the primary tool to explore, visualise and simulate the underlying math. Computers have enabled us to calculate things once thought impossible; they have enabled math to be visualised in beautiful and intuitive ways. They have let professionals focus on problem-solving instead of tedious calculations. However, in school, the picture is starkly different.
In real-world maths, computers do almost all the calculating; by contrast, people do all the calculating in educational maths. In the process of teaching students math that they will never use in the real world, we create formula reciting robots that hate the subject. This not only affects a student’s confidence and career choice but in light of AI, if we fail to teach students how to think for themselves and instead focus on teaching them concepts that are trivial for computers, they will be deemed redundant in the 21st-century economy.
We urgently need a solution; the work I am doing at my new startup strives to solve this problem.
Strive Math
Strive teaches math through code via 1–1 and 1-many live online lessons. Learning math through code not only teaches the most valuable skill in the 21st century (coding), but it also makes math come alive.
Students can visualise math in real-time; they can play and develop an intuition for math. Using math + code, students can create games, visualisations, music, apps and thousands of other real-world projects. Strive makes math inspiring and applicable to the real world.
Instead of students memorising the median formula and calculating the average on abstract datasets like a table in their textbook or the number of oranges in a classroom, we can show students how to connect to the IMDB API and explore, in real-time, the statistics of their favourite movies. We can teach students real-world math and real-world data science they care about. In the process, we answer math’s most notorious question: “When am I ever going to use this?” consequently, we can make students engage with the math on an emotional level.
Coding and Literacy
Coding is becoming an increasingly more vital skill set in today’s modern economy. Many experts compare coding now to literacy 100 years ago. A century ago, a handful of well-educated people would have the privilege to learn to read and write.
Literacy enabled these individuals to learn more things by reading books and to co-ordinate with people through letters. This created a great deal of wealth for these individuals and created a chasm between those who could and could not read. Literacy, therefore, became a necessity to be a useful member of the economy.
Similarly, today a handful of privileged individuals know how to code, and this tool has enabled the creation of more wealth for these individuals than humanity has ever seen. Computers have become a fundamental part of modern society and will only increasingly become so and therefore; it is only a matter of time before computational literacy becomes a prerequisite to participate in the contemporary economy.
Math will be the primary subject to enable the future of computational literacy
Coding is simply a subset of mathematics. ‘Programming’ has been used by mathematicians for centuries to describe algorithms and various mathematical theories and theorems. It has only been in the last 70 years where programming has developed into its own field, but its core is still just math and logic.
This means that the math subject will and should become the mechanisim to enable the next generation of computational literacy. With this comes some incredible challenges; the entire math curriculum from K1–12 and into university needs to be redesigned from first principles. Platforms need to be made available to allow for teachers to teach and grade student’s code easily and quickly. And teachers will need to be upskilled to lead in this new approach. This is no small task; this will be the grandest change to the education system in human history.
Unfortunetly we do not have the privilege of time here; the disconnect between math and the real world posses an existential threat to billions of people’s careers over the next couple of decades.
The Future
Math is in an interesting position; it is currently amongst the most hated subjects taught at school, and it is hopelessly disconnected from the real world. However, it has the potential to inspire a new generation of engineers, artists and business leaders who understand how to use and apply computers in the real world. In the process, it can be a subject that students simply adore because it enables self-expression, art and curious problem-solving.
Math is at the bedrock of life, from the spirals of the milky way galaxy to birds’ migration patterns and the neurons in your brain that make you happy. Recognising and knowing how to utilise this knowledge to create something that makes the world a better place is nothing short of a spiritual experience.
It is my vision for Strive to catalyse and enable this change globally. Strive exists to revolutionise math education to be more meaningful and applicable to the real world. To equip students with the tools they need to lead meaningful and happy lives.
This post is part of a 30-day writing challenge I am doing. Every day for 30 days, I am posting an article of at least 500 words. If you notice that I miss a day, I will buy you lunch.
