I wrote this essay for the Imperial Newsletter in 2005. I was asked to discuss the supposed decline in Mathematics in schools in the UK, and to give a students opinion on the matter. It is a little precocious, but I hope it gives some idea of may attitude towards maths!

"Maths throughout the country is in decline. Or so everyone says. Teaching, learning and implementing it is on a slippery slope to extinction.

Maths is an engaging front-line subject that is constantly being pushed beyond its boundaries. You may think this an obvious statement. Most degrees at Imperial rely entirely on highly advanced mathematical skills. Most engineering boils down to solving differential equations, chemistry on awkward integrals and physics is basically applied maths. Considering how much research is done in these areas, how can anyone say maths isn’t booming? In a sense it is the only way forward in modern scientific investigation (in many subjects).

And yet undergraduates are increasingly unprepared for the mathematical challenges presented to them. Even those with further maths A-level struggle to appreciate the basics of University calculations, and topics covered in a maths degree are so far removed from A-levels that many feel they weren’t worth taking. So where do we go wrong?

Maths has nothing to do with formulae or methods of solution, or even arithmetic. It is about approaching unfamiliar challenges and solving them efficiently and effectively. Solving quadratic equations and finding sin(x) is only useful in very specific cases. And here is the crux. Most A-levels are touted for the breadth of their transferable skills. Maths, on the other hand, is a transferable skill. That’s all it is. In learning by rote the method for solving simple differential equations, or memorising the integral of a dozen tricky functions we learn nothing. For example, we can all memorise the quadratic formula, but if we can’t model a real life (or theoretical) situation that requires the solving of a quadratic then what we know is useless!

Hence the issue runs deeper than the often quoted lack of interest, difficulty and inaccessibility. We are required to re-evaluate our national approach to A-levels. In all subjects they should mean more than a university entrance exam. Maths needs to be presented as a conceptual process at the heart of modern life in a way that equips students with the basic tools required.

Whilst teaching maths is a hard profession, with small material rewards, lack of teachers or qualified staff is not the problem. We must be prepared to fundamentally reassess how A-levels are approached before more people recognise the universality of mathematics."

The original article can be found at:

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/reporter/previousissues/issue158_16november2005/studentvoice