Math Subject and Common Sense

Cikgu Zahari was on TV3 today in the early morning talk show, Malaysia Hari Ini. Along with Wardina Safiyyah and the Bagaikan-Roda-host, they discussed the subject of mathematics in school (I didn’t catch their discussion from the start, but that was what I saw when I tuned in the show). Zahari claimed that our current system of math education – from his observation when he conducted math learning courses in schools – is in need of a vast transformation. In deference to Malaysian math teachers, he asserted that some math teachers fail to make their students understand the principles of math, especially in its application to solve real world problems.

A student caller was baffled by Zahari's idea that learning math is not just about solving equations. The caller asked how could she even try to understand the exam questions, when there isn't even enough time for her to try to solve the equations? Zahari replied, one should have thought about trying to undestand math before any exam, not during one.

The hostess, Wardina and her co-host, both flinched when Zahari offered them an attempt to solve a math question written on a large piece of paper he just uncovered from the coffee table. The hosts promptly denied the offer. Is it that as we grow older, math subject becomes more and more formidable to us? Well, the question turned out to be a very basic one.

If 2/3 of a journey is 400km, what is the total length of the journey?

A student who perceives math as a subject of purely meaningless numbers would certainly find it difficult to attempt the question above - otherwise, deceivingly easy. If the only thing he could recall - when he sees the question - is the lesson on multiplication, then he would mindlessly multiply all the numbers that appear in the question and use the product as his answer (he would multiply 2/3 to 400). “Isn’t that what my math teacher taught me in class?”, he’ll say, if we ask him how he deduced his wrong answer.

As Zahari said, learning mathematics should be about solving real world problems using the equations, and he implied that math classes should promote more thinking process! Instead, some teachers only employ rote learning in their classes; and so their students would carelessly multiply any numbers given in exam questions, the product would then be their answer. Although they may be unfortunate to have been taught by 'rote-learning' math teachers, we can simply assume that these students are brilliant - they did exactly what their teacher taught them in class.

Another talk show in TV3 I saw last Tuesday made me reflect on the competency of its hostess. The setting was a luxury furniture store – where items are priced RM5000 and above. The store manager was one of the panel, while the other was a young artist from Sabah. The artist is fond of spending on luxurious furnishing like those on sale in the store. She has even bought a custom-made couch set – which is unique for its design, as she claimed.

Out of many nonsensical questions posed by the inexperienced hostess, perhaps the one I find most amusing is when she asked the artist what was the highest amount the artist had ever spent on a single furniture. Indeed, the artist felt uncomfortable to mention any specific value. I wonder if the hostess had lost her common sense when she actually asked that silly question.