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Is the mathematics you learn in school really needed in everyday life?

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Reply 60

Original post
by 1st superstar
BRAVO agreed!!!

Is Excel something we should be teaching more of?

Reply 61

Gcse maths was fun and I enjoyed the stuff we learnt. However, a lot of things are irrelevant to what we need in actual life and so ppl who struggled with maths disliked it and weren’t great at it. I believe there should be 2 math qualifications. One that is like gcse maths and another that is more general by having multiplication money and stuff to do with every day life.

Reply 62

I don't understand this question because it implies that everything else you learn in school at that level is 'useful'. Why is maths always the target? It's not like I use my knowledge of GCSE English language poetry every day or at all.

Reply 63

Original post
by DiddyDec
Just learning Excel has been a massive help in nearly every job I have ever done. It makes complicated maths easier and replicable. It is practical algebra that serves a purpose other than find x because that is what the question wants.

Of course an understanding of limitation is required but more often than not I find the only real limitation is my own understanding. The tool is only ever as good as the user.

I'm still learning Excel too but I'm always surprised how much mathematics you can do with it. I still remember the day a colleague of mine showed me how to do nonlinear curve fitting with the solver!

I also find that if I can put together a calculation in Excel it's much easier to explain to someone else, especially if they find maths a little challenging.

Reply 64

Original post
by DiddyDec
The world of games related maths can get very deep and spans a huge range of genres. So while I focused on RPG elements you could do the same for economy mechanics which many games have. I can think of few that work by abusing integer limits causing overflow. Combining maths and coding, which is basically maths and logic puzzles.

Thank you! I'm going to add that example to my teaching notes for how computers store numbers.

Reply 65

Original post
by University of Huddersfield Guest Lecturer
I'm still learning Excel too but I'm always surprised how much mathematics you can do with it. I still remember the day a colleague of mine showed me how to do nonlinear curve fitting with the solver!

I also find that if I can put together a calculation in Excel it's much easier to explain to someone else, especially if they find maths a little challenging.


I don't think you can ever stop learning Excel, I'm sure your application is completely different to mine. It is an incredibly versatile tool that can serve so many different needs. I use it building property databases calculating utilisation rates which then translates through mail merge into presentable data sheets per property.

I have a soft spot for a perfect conditional formatting, Such as this conversion of numerical to alphabetical data;



Excel is a useful tool for breaking down equations allowing you to use variable inputs on the same equations.

Reply 66

Original post
by University of Huddersfield Guest Lecturer
That is interesting. Day to day life has taught you logic which has in turn taught you mathematics? Has that been other people's experience?

Does that mean that we should include more logic in the way we teach mathematics at school?


Definitely think so. I think what would have helped me, would've been practical exercises/field trips involving real life scenarios involving figures eg go home and figure how old each of you will be when grandma is 80, bearing in mind you are now 11 and she is 65 (might be a terrible example but something i used to struggle with at that age). Another example - Go and measure a space in your house for a new chess of drawers and then find one in the shops that will fit that space. Exmaple 3 - Go to your local pool and ask what the about the "depth" is then measure length and breadth ( i could never "see" 3 dimensional on paper it just didn't make any sense), ex: Go to Ikea and look at the dimensions of a wardrobe, what depth do you think you will need for your batallion of shoes? example 4: What is the probability you will be picked for the athletics team, bearing in mind there 30 of you in class, 3 have 2 left feet and you are one of them, but rather than on paper act it out. 😂

I definitely think logic should be a scarlett thread running through majority of subjects so that its not such an alien concept because like it or not, all of us as fully functioning adults use logic in our daily lives so its a bit weird that one struggles with it so much in maths.

Reply 67

Original post
by mqb2766
What topics do you mean by "everyday maths"?

I think that is part of the question I'm asking this forum.

I'd define everyday maths as the mathematics you need to get you through a day, to shop certainly, but also to plan a trip or buy a car or a house, to read or hear the news and make sense of the numbers that are presented, to listen to what a politician says and decide for myself if what they are saying makes sense or not, to go online and at least have some idea about the data I'm creating and who is making use of it and what algorithms it is being put through.

I'd really like to know what other people think though.

Reply 68

Original post
by ArtmisKco
Gcse maths was fun and I enjoyed the stuff we learnt. However, a lot of things are irrelevant to what we need in actual life and so ppl who struggled with maths disliked it and weren’t great at it. I believe there should be 2 math qualifications. One that is like gcse maths and another that is more general by having multiplication money and stuff to do with every day life.

I see you agree with vicvic38! What topics would you like to see included in your second GCSE?

Reply 69

"everyday maths" isn't that what they call "Functional Maths" though for those who can't access the normal GCSE Maths?

Another topic in school thats i've found keeps coming up in everyday life is "Standard Deviation".

Reply 70

Original post
by Meowstic
I don't understand this question because it implies that everything else you learn in school at that level is 'useful'. Why is maths always the target? It's not like I use my knowledge of GCSE English language poetry every day or at all.

That's a great point.

I would definitely agree with you that mathematics is sometimes unfairly picked on.

I think there are ways in which mathematics and poetry alike for me, in that they both help me appreciate the world I live in more and see things I might otherwise miss. In the same way that I can't sit by a river or a canal without thinking of the Lady of Shallot floating by, or walk through a flurry of hailstones without thinking of a haiku by Basho, I also can't see droplets of water splashed by a car without thinking of parabolas or quadratic equations.

For me the amazing thing about maths is it is also useful!
(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 71

Original post
by DiddyDec
I don't think you can ever stop learning Excel, I'm sure your application is completely different to mine. It is an incredibly versatile tool that can serve so many different needs. I use it building property databases calculating utilisation rates which then translates through mail merge into presentable data sheets per property.

I have a soft spot for a perfect conditional formatting, Such as this conversion of numerical to alphabetical data;



Excel is a useful tool for breaking down equations allowing you to use variable inputs on the same equations.

Beautiful! What function do you use for the conversion?

Reply 72

Original post
by Meowstic
I don't understand this question because it implies that everything else you learn in school at that level is 'useful'. Why is maths always the target? It's not like I use my knowledge of GCSE English language poetry every day or at all.

I target English lit more than maths

Reply 73

Original post
by University of Huddersfield Guest Lecturer
I think that is part of the question I'm asking this forum.

I'd define everyday maths as the mathematics you need to get you through a day, to shop certainly, but also to plan a trip or buy a car or a house, to read or hear the news and make sense of the numbers that are presented, to listen to what a politician says and decide for myself if what they are saying makes sense or not, to go online and at least have some idea about the data I'm creating and who is making use of it and what algorithms it is being put through.

I'd really like to know what other people think though.


Sure, but most of that is covered in KS2. Pythagoras, for instance, describes circles, lengths of vectors, forms the basis for the cos rule, underpins trig, ... but is not used for everyday maths. Similar for many other topics

If you did a French gcse, you're unlikely to use it every day. Similar for most (all?) Subjects. I'm unsure why gcse maths should underpin everyday maths.

Reply 74

I think there is a huge misconception amongst non-mathematicians that maths is about arithmetic, calculations and adding things up.

Person: Hi, what are you studying?
Mathematician: I do maths.
Person: Quick! What's 45924+19393?
Mathematician: I don't know. Let me get my calculator.

Maths fundamentally isn't about arithmetic or even numbers - it's about understanding. The maths content in GCSE Maths is generally more than enough for the average person not working in STEM to go about their everyday life. It's not even particularly important to be able to add up three-digit numbers because we have calculators for that.

Most maths qualifications beyond GCSE are preparation for a university course or career in a maths or science field, where the maths content learned has extremely important applications such as calculus in science and engineering. Number theory is a very pure branch of maths, but were it not for the fact that it's difficult to find the prime factors of large numbers, our modern security system wouldn't exist today.

Even if you aren't working in a technical field, the analytical skills and problem-solving skills gained from studying maths are still really important. In maths if you want to claim a statement is true, you actually have to logically prove it; you can't just throw around a couple of examples and say it's true, so this teaches people how to formulate logical arguments which is also very useful.

Reply 75

Original post
by GreenCub
I think there is a huge misconception amongst non-mathematicians that maths is about arithmetic, calculations and adding things up.

Person: Hi, what are you studying?
Mathematician: I do maths.
Person: Quick! What's 45924+19393?
Mathematician: I don't know. Let me get my calculator.

Maths fundamentally isn't about arithmetic or even numbers - it's about understanding. The maths content in GCSE Maths is generally more than enough for the average person not working in STEM to go about their everyday life. It's not even particularly important to be able to add up three-digit numbers because we have calculators for that.

Most maths qualifications beyond GCSE are preparation for a university course or career in a maths or science field, where the maths content learned has extremely important applications such as calculus in science and engineering. Number theory is a very pure branch of maths, but were it not for the fact that it's difficult to find the prime factors of large numbers, our modern security system wouldn't exist today.

Even if you aren't working in a technical field, the analytical skills and problem-solving skills gained from studying maths are still really important. In maths if you want to claim a statement is true, you actually have to logically prove it; you can't just throw around a couple of examples and say it's true, so this teaches people how to formulate logical arguments which is also very useful.

I like the way how you explained math it really inspires me to work harder for my math GCSE

Reply 76

I find it of use to this day. Not just for getting the maths bit of Countdown. Maths is vital to make sure you are not being ripped off.

Reply 77

Original post
by University of Huddersfield Guest Lecturer
Hi, Those are some great videos, and I wish I had the teacher's enthusiasm! I do wonder if to really appreciate how amazing those proofs are you need to have seen things done a different way first though. What do you think?


maybe, but why those things are beautiful beacuse he visualize those examples, so you also know why it is like it is, not only how it is done.

Reply 78

It's probably the most useless subject in every day life for most people.

Reply 79

Definitely! Comparing prices in supermarkets, measuring things, interior design, buying and working out the costs of things, rotations and symmetry, so many times when maths comes in useful to everyday scenarios.

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