July 23, 2018 Monday
Bedtime story
Mathematics as a Method Towards Logical Thinking
If I held any position of significance in
the arena of mathematical education, I would have definitely introduced
mathematical logic at the earliest since I hope to inculcate logical reasoning
in the mind of every young mind.
What I find most lacking among the educated
human apes is the attitude of logical reasoning and critical thinking which has
near-universal application in all spheres of our activities.
From whatever I see around me, it seems
clear to me to that our brain is more tuned to ‘go by emotions’ and ‘follow the
herd’ mentality since it must have had bestowed survival advantages to our
ancestors who roamed around in small herds, gathering whatever fruits and
vegetables they could and hunting any kind of small animals that wasn’t too
dangerous for the herd.
For any individual in that small herd to be
rational or critical of his or her group behavior and practices would surely
have endangered that person in terms of either isolation or at the very least
castigation and chastisement.
So it is natural that evolutionary
pressures have made us the way we are which proved to be time-tested successful
in evolutionary terms, but now that - thanks to scientific enlightenment and industrial
revolution – have been ‘too successful” and bred ourselves out of proportion to
any other macro species, all of a sudden what used to go to our favor suddenly
has become dangerous for our own well being.
Obviously there is no guarantee if some
subject is present in the academic curriculum of young minds it will
necessarily have any meaningful impact on them but then not even trying on that
flimsy ground would be criminal.
Of course, I truly understand that
mathematical education has less to do on what is taught and everything to do on
how it is taught with the proper context.
Most teachers are perhaps not philosophical
enough to understand the importance of this statement.
Finally, calculus is almost universally not
considered to be a part of basic mathematical education and yet I think it must
be casually introduced to young minds not with the intent of mastering it but
as an example of a truly spellbinding feat of intellectual achievement.
In fact, it needs to be introduced as a historical
subject rather than a mathematical one laying the back ground on what made
Leibnitz and Newton to even consider it.
A list of the problems such as the brachistochrone
problem and the tautochrone problem could be introduced both to make the
juniors think about the problem as well as a technique to introduce the concept
of analysis without creating a havoc and fear inside the delicate minds of the
little ones.
A branch of mathematics that is called
heuristics or heuristic technique is never even introduced to little minds
which may be the most useful thing they could ever be taught.
Heuristic is perhaps the most
non-mathematical of all subjects in mathematics that employs some kind of
practical method in learning, discovery or problem solving with no surety of
being perfect or optimal or guaranteeing success.
The most fundamental heuristic is trial and
error which has a near-universal usage in almost all spheres of human
activities but teaching it actively would perhaps drive the young minds to use
it either more optimally or more frequently.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
Advertisements
Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
No comments:
Post a Comment