Traditional methods of mathematics teaching and learning have resulted in a maturing population who do not appreciate the mathematics they use in their everyday lives. These ‘everyday’ mathematics skills often involve the use of complicated mathematical ideas and techniques. However, many people often consider the mathematics they can do as ‘common sense’ and the tasks they can’t do as ‘mathematics’
‘Have you got Maths Eyes’ is a successful initiative ‘Looking at Tallaght with Maths Eyes’ that took place in June 2011 to coincide with the 18th International Conference Adult Learning mathematics (Mathematical Eyes: A Bridge between Adults, the World and Mathematics., hosted by the Institute of Technology Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland.
The initiative aimed to:
- Develop the maths eyes of the Tallaght community: (Every member of the community has maths eyes – they just need to be opened).
- Help the Tallaght community to make the link between mathematics and the real world. (A key focus was to encourage the community to use Maths Eyes when they think about their water usage and water conservation)
- Build people’s confidence in their use of maths in their life.
- Empower people and build their confidence in own maths knowledge and skills ( empowered parents are more confident in supporting their children’s learning, more confident citizens can make more informed evaluations of the information that bombards them everyday and have a better understanding of the impact of their actions and decisions in their life, work and leisure),
- Build a positive image of maths.
The events brochure for ‘Looking at Tallaght with Maths eyes can be downloaded here.