How many times has a lightbulb gone on for a student when the math they are learning, is used in a real-world situation, and they finally get why the math is important?  And how many times are students taught the math, but not taught how it could be possibly be used.  I think the old TV show “Numb3rs” was a great example of showing how math is used in the real world.  At last month’s HI-TEC conference in Orlando, FL, students came to the conference to talk about how the light bulbs went on for them with math and real-world applications.  From the Community College Times:

…for Copley, math concepts did not make sense to him until he took a physics course that incorporated aerospace workplace tasks.

When the students understand how they are going to use what they are learning, and see real world examples, they gain a better understanding of the material.  It is not just math problems on a page, it is a way of solving problems of the real world.  It is the application of the knowledge – and this is what we as teachers must bring to the students.  In many of the electronics classes, they are taught math, but not how it applies to electronics.  So the student just doesn’t get it.  With the systems approach, they are taught how the math applies to the electronics and they see the real world examples and are better able to apply the knowledge.  Each subject is not taught in a vacuum – there is a relationship to other subjects and the real world. Teachers need to not assume that the students will understand those relationships and bring contextual learning to them.

Mark Viquesney