We all detested math the most as children, right up until we had to use a pen and paper to
solve a numerical problem.But as soon as we had an answer, at least for me, it was the mosttranquil time and our happiness knew no limits.The fundamental idea and reasoning behindlearning and teaching mathematics is to solve problems by creating universally accepted algorithms.
Mathematics is “the science of numbers, and quantity,” according to the Oxford Dictionary. The mother of all subjects and the queen of science is mathematics. We would have been devoid of most of the amazing things if Mathematics had not been part of our lives. Google would not exist if the Perron-Frobenius Theorem didn’t exist. We wouldn’t be able to cluster GWAS data effectively without the Nerve Theorem. We wouldn’t have insight into specific customer behavioural models, etc., without fresh understanding of stochastic processes.
Between the fourth and the twelfth centuries AD, India saw a mathematical renaissance led by Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskaracharya.India’s contributions to mathematics include the discovery of zero, the decimal number system, and negative numbers; nonetheless,
the nation’s current standing in the field is still inadequate.
India is home to several exceptional mathematics research institutes, including the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore; The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata; Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research, Pune; and others. However, given the current state of global technological breakthroughs, India still needs a significant number of high-quality mathematical institutes.
India has long demonstrated its love of mathematics, dating back to the Vedic era.
However there is a gloomy part as the pace of studying Mathematics and research in the subject has been on downhill side. To this the culture of studying and research in Mathematics is declining all around the world.
The world’s largest corporations are looking to India for its expertise in data analytics, AI and machine learning (ML).However; eminent mathematicians contend that for the nation to leverage these technologies to provide truly innovative and robust solutions for the rest of the world as well as for itself, the nation must drastically increase its mathematical
capabilities.
A mathematics professor at Princeton University, Manjul Bhargava, cautions that “if we don’t have strong mathematical talent coming up very soon,” India cannot hope to dominate the fourth industrial revolution.
The Hindu quotes “The heads of many government arts and science colleges where the admission process has witnessed a sharp decline for B.Sc. Mathematics are understood to have their fingers crossed as the risk of the programme being withdrawn off looms large if the poor patronage continues next year.“A pattern has emerged wherein the admissions for the course is low in colleges located in rural parts, whereas those in urban locations have managed to fill vacant seats. For instance, a little over 50 % of the sanctioned seats for Mathematics have remained vacant at Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district, whereas the government arts colleges in Coimbatore city and the Chikkanna Government Arts College in Tiruppur have been able to fill the seats. In the case of the Government Arts College, Coimbatore, the seats have been filled for the programme offered in shift I and shift II as well”
The Times of India Quotes, “Recently, a survey conducted by us, an edtech platform that teaches math and coding to K-12 students, found that 82 per cent of students across grades 7-10 fear math. The survey added that 1 in 10 students are confident about their mathematical proficiency. For a country with a mathematical heritage as rich as ours, this decline comes as a surprise.”
The solutions to the issues must be found in the root causes of the problems.It is necessary to redefine the way mathematics is taught, keeping the content amusing while employing
realworld examples to demonstrate how fundamental concepts are put into practice.Students should be indoctrinated with the idea of problem solving at an early age.
The sole attention placed on tests, marks, and grades by parents, students, and teachers
should be avoided. Instead, conceptual clarity, problem comprehension, and problem solving should be prioritized.Students should be instilled with a scientific mindset, and the desire
to get increasingly higher marks should be less of a focus.
Memorization and mugging up approach should be discouraged and as a substitute, action based approach should be adopted.
It is the teachers’ and parents’ responsibility to ignore the one-size-fits-all, ideal solution.
Students should be taught to adopt the culture of critical thinking and must be given real-life scenarios to deal with.The numbers must be handled as numbers that too in a
most straightforward and efficient manner possible.The study of mathematics should to be considered as a skill.
(Author is Assistant Professor J&K Higher Education. Suggestions at [email protected])
