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Cultures Vital Role on Molding Ones Mathematical Ability
A Library Research Paper
Donna Marie R. Catapang
B.S. Applied Mathematics
2008-68988
A.Y. 2009-2010
INTRODUCTION
Long before civilization had been established, mathematics has always been a vital part of
its advancement. Mathematics, having been considered as a foundation of mans life, had
already faced various modifications to vigorously unfold secrets of abstract as well as the
real world. It provides us with powerful theoretical and computational techniques to
advance our understanding of the modern world and societal problems and to develop and
manage the technology industries that are the backbone of our economy. Through the birth
of Pythagoras, Euler, Descartes, Einstein, and other ancient mathematicians, lots of
theories, principles and laws of mathematics had been applied to real life situations. And
surely, many others have yet to come.
But, reality check, although some are doing well in this field, majority of the worlds
population, particularly in the Philippines, is experiencing poor performance in
mathematics. Certainly, it is alarming to know that while others are continuously excelling,
the gap between mathematically advantaged countries and those which are not is also
increasing. In a much smaller scale, let us just consider mathematics education in the
Philippine context. In 2004, our countrys population was 86,241,697 million. But
according to Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) study on
percentage of students reaching international benchmarks in mathematics of all grade 8
students, only 3 % of its population is confirmed to have high-scores, 14 % intermediate
and 39 % low. Compared to Singapore, China, and Korea who got 44 %, 38 % and 35 %
respectively in advanced-scores category, Philippines, indeed, is inferior among them. In
the given data, advanced-scoring countries implied that their students can organize
information, make generalizations, solve non-routine problems, and draw and justify
conclusions from data while high-scoring countries means their students can apply their
understanding and knowledge in a wide variety of relatively complex situations (Greaney,
Kellaghan, 2008).
This is the sad reality. Truly, there is something wrong with Philippine education system.
But system alone is not the only problem here. We must also look for other means to solve
the existing problem through identifying other significant factors affecting it. Maybe
Filipinos are natural mathematicians; or is it that we just lack ways to nourish it? Culture
has something to do with it, perhaps. Hence, we should do something about it while there
is available time for change.
This study will focus on answering these questions on a much later part. However, the
researcher only concentrated on cultures of countries with the data readily available such
as Africa, America, Malaysia, China, Japan, Vietnam and Philippines. This paper does not
give much attention on a country that has more varied culture on a smaller unit. Also, due
to inaccessible information about Western culture, more generalizations from Asia were
indicated.
Mathematics for All
Isnt it fulfilling to know that everyone is doing well in math? Besides, whether you like it
or not, mathematics is everywhere (just like Physics as some may claim). When you
wake-up in the morning, you will definitely try to look at the clock and know what time is
it. The concept of time is just one of the many products of mathematics. Without math,
most probably, there will also be no idea to quantify time. As you do estimate your
allowance for one day, you do calculations, thus, you do math. These are examples of
simple applications of mathematics, and a lot more complex ones are of course much
available. Without going any further, the point here is that, everyone must appreciate the
importance of mathematics. We must exert endless efforts to learn and discover
mathematics "€“ not just knowing its basics, but also its more advanced concepts. If this
will come to pass, more and much better mathematical theory could be created. Thus, more
significant changes in society will likely to happen. In this way, Philippines, specifically,
could finally able to cope to the growing demands of international community. In other
words, being excellent in math is really an advantage.
What makes a person excellent in mathematics?
At this moment, we should now identify if there are criteria that must be satisfied in order
to be considered excellent in math. Math skill is defined as "an individuals capacity to
identify and understand the role that mathematics plays in the world, to make well-founded
judgements and to use and engage with mathematics in ways that meet the needs of that
individuals life as a constructive, concerned and reflective citizen"€ (Bussi*ƒ¨re,
Cartwright, Knighton, 2004). In agreement to the data gathered, observations and
assumptions, one is said to have an excellent mathematical ability if he/she possess the
following:
1. Has the capacity to adopt and learn different numerical concepts easily especially in
time constraints. This includes basic comprehension on symbols used, formula derivation;
formulate implications from presented theories, able to do inductive reasoning, as well as
understanding underlying logic in a given problem.
2. Has the competence to apply mathematical techniques accurately. This can be
characterize by mastering fundamental operations, be it in written and oral form, quick and
correct arithmetic, applying derived formulas appropriately via understanding a given
word problem and lastly, one must determine how these techniques could possibly be
related to real world.
3. Has the ability to further generalize from limited information presented. It may include
proving how certain expressions were derived; solve complex math problem, and even
creating a new set of system.
Generally, one should have at least, the first two qualifications. In addition, however, to the
