Why DO I have to Know Mathematics: You Don't- But, That's the Problem

• ISBN13: 9781456588083
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: N/A
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publisher Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication Date: May 5, 2011
• Pages: 228
• Original Price: USD 23.95
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 268 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Study & Teaching

High school and college students are in a position to benefit most from the understandings provided by this book. These students are currently taking mathematics classes and studying in other content areas and so they have an opportunity to apply the understandings they will develop in the book to their current understanding of the mathematics they are being taught. They will also be in a position, like the rest of us who have finished our formal educations, to begin to ask the quantitative questions that lead to a need to know and understand mathematics. Asking and being able to answer these quantitative questions is the key to being competitive in our new knowledge based economy. Many people have asked why they have to know mathematics. "Why Do I Have to Know Mathematics? You Don't But that is the Problem" provides an answer that establishes a direct link between mathematics and your life. After reading the book you will know exactly why mathematics is important and in particular why it is important to you. Once you have the answer you will be faced with another more important question. Why haven't I been using mathematics? Mathematics is used to develop understanding. There are many ways to understand something, however, quantitative understandings developed through the use of mathematics are particularly important when it comes to understanding how and why thing change. The question that you must ask is what is it that I want to understand? Your answer to this question is the fuel you will need to truly understand the power of mathematics. Everything changes. Mathematics is the most powerful subject you will study in school because it gives you the power to understand change. Our society has become a complex system of measurements and predictions that are used to manage changes in our physical and social environments. Health care systems, economic systems, banking systems, and environmental systems are measured and managed for the best interests of those doing the managing. If you are not able to participate in the quantitative discussion of these measures and predictions then you are at the mercy of those who do. This book provides the foundational understanding you will need to take your first steps toward developing your ability to use the power of mathematics so that you can participate in the discussions that are shaping your present and future physical and social environments.

Dr. Rodney E. McNair likes to play golf, ride motorcycles, and working in his Koi pond. He has a PhD in mathematics education and conducts research on the use of mathematics as a means for communicating quantitative understanding. He was not always the best mathematics student. It was his metamorphosis from a below average mathematics student to a mathematics teacher that led to his belief that anybody and everybody can do mathematics, if they just make up their mind to do it. Dr. McNair has spent 23 years teaching college mathematics and learning about mathematics students. Time spent in the mathematics classroom with students that often do not want to learn mathematics can be frustrating. However, this situation also provides an opportunity to understand what causes students to question the reason they are being asked to learn mathematics. During the first half of his teaching career Dr. McNair held traditional attitudes toward teaching and learning mathematics. Learning mathematics required that you apply logic and deductive reasoning toward the solution of abstract problems while learning a whole new symbol system. For those that did not find the study of mathematics inherently rewarding the reason for study mathematics was vague at best. Students' lack of motivation for learning mathematics was the fault of the student who simply needed to work harder. During the second half of his teaching career Dr. McNair has taken a student centered approach to understanding the lack of motivation to study mathematics. This student centered approach led to the development of the book "Why Do I Have to Know Mathematics? You Don't But That's the Problem". If mathematics is so important then why would the majority of students not know the answer? If mathematics is needed in college and in careers, then why would any college student ever ask why mathematics is so important? Ah ha! Perhaps, it's not the students; maybe it's the way we teach mathematics. There is no reason that students should ever have to wonder why mathematics is important. In fact, the idea that they do ask the question is an indication that the system has failed. Dr. McNair offers an explanation of why the problem exists and a way to fix the problem that empowers students with a clear reason and motivation for learning mathematics. After reading "Why Do I Have to Know Mathematics" you will be asking yourself a new question, "Why haven't I been using mathematics?"