this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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That's one of the big problems with maths teaching in the UK, it's almost actively hostile to giving any sort of context.
When a subject is reduced to a chore done for its own sake it's no wonder most students don't develop a passion or interest in it.
In the US it's common to give students "word problems" that describe a scenario and ask them to answer a question that requires applying whatever math they're studying at the time. Students hate them and criticize the problems for being unrealistic, but I think they really just hate word problems because because they find them difficult. To me that means they need more word problems so they can actually get used to thinking about how math relates to the real world.
I don't see it that way. Most "word problems" are just poorly posed, lack important information, or are ambiguous. Often, they are mostly fairly unrealistic.
It would be better to describe usage scenarios, talk about examples in class, and give exercises which have a clear, discernible pattern. Like, actual physics problems.