May 25, 2021
Mathematics is considered one of the most important subjects adolescents and teenagers can invest in and learn to become truly fluent in. Students often ask, “why is maths important?”, and while it is essential for the creation of engineers, scientists and mathematicians, math is important, regardless of the life path a person takes. Schools tend to emphasize the importance of maths in their curriculum because it teaches students critical decision making and problem-solving skills, which are useful not only in mathematical problems but also for real life applications in a non-mathematical environment. Hence, every mathematical problem that a student may solve will only help to improve their future problem-solving skills in the future. Middle school mathematics helps to form the basis and foundations for success in VCE; the techniques and concepts they learn in middle school form the building blocks for understanding more complex concepts later in their studies. In Year 10, students cover a wide range of mathematical concepts such as quadratic equations, probability, trigonometry, logarithms, and sketching different functions. All these topics are further expanded upon in VCE, which is why it is important to form a solid understanding early on.
In succeeding in maths, practice makes perfect. The more practice a student does, the more fluent they become and the more confident they feel in solving and trusting their answers. Doing practice problems and making mistakes is an essential and unavoidable part of Maths. While students may sometimes feel discouraged when making mistakes, the must recognize that learning from their mistakes is the most valuable technique to ingrain concepts in their memory. It is also important that students feel confident, especially during assessments, and this confidence is cultivated through a good amount of practice.
When a student does not understand a particular problem, it is likely due to a misunderstanding or incomplete comprehension of the different concepts needed to be employed together to solve that problem. Hence, doing an adequate amount of practice at each stage of learning to solve a problem helps to build a proper understanding of how to solve a problem. Time management during assessments is also something students may struggle with, along with panicking during assessments if they do not understand a particular problem. Both these problems can generally be mitigated with proper assessment techniques.
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