Maths: why am I learning this?

Remember back to your high school maths class… did you ever wonder ‘why am I learning this?’.

We know that maths provides a critical foundation to set students up for their future. It’s not only the careers that need maths, it’s also our daily life like working out your budget - are living beyond your means, how to get a mortgage, do your taxes or read your payslip correctly.

I hated maths at school, then went to get a mortgage (what does P&I mean) and last week I even read my payslip wrong! Turns out I was doing an extra super contribution that I didn’t realise because I wasn't reading my payslip properly. I also became a civil engineer.

Damn, that high school maths was actually useful. 

In school it can be difficult to know about all the possibilities of careers and why we need to learn maths. Today, there are over 34 types of engineers according to Engineers Australia and it’s virtually impossible to explain all the different jobs that use maths. 

Making the connection between maths and the real world can be a bit of a leap. How can we connect students to the real world and show how maths is relevant for them and their future? We can bring the real world in.

Studies show that real world experiences increase student interest with maths. With this increased interest, this no doubt increases engagement, motivation and improves student’s results. 

There are so many ways that you can bring the real world in and the choices can be overwhelming. Here are ways you can DIY real world maths, get it done for you and top lessons when working out what to do.

If you want to learn more and do a practical workshop on real world maths in the classroom head along to an upcoming real world maths workshop.

Top lessons from getting the real world into the classroom

• Where do I start? Start with your objective. Why do you want to bring real world examples to your students? Is it to spark excitement, or broaden students minds about the possibilities or do you want to deep dive into the great technical stuff to challenge students. Then look at the best activity.
• You may be surprised to know that industry really want to engage with schools! They know that they are going to need more engineers in the future and want to help fill the pipeline. Start with an organisation like Power of Engineering which already has school and industry connections.
• Look at how much time you have to commit. Is there a quick win where you can use existing real world maths resources?
• Be curious and use the engineering mindset for inspiration.
• Go for win win! There are lots of ways that educators can help the engineering industry like bringing a fresh perspective to problems and teaching industry how to engage students and improving their communication skills

DIY: I’m keen to try things myself

Role models 

Get scientists and engineers into the classroom. This could be in person with programs like CSIRO’s STEM Professionals in Schools or sharing videos from Stelr’s Women in STEM video series. Make sure it’s relatable and attainable for students. Watch how role models relate what they do to helping people and find the ‘why’ behind their work.

My favourite engineering stories to share with students are:

• Rachel Bacon keeps Qantas flying and you travelling safely.
• Emma’s 3D printed exoskeleton - watch Emma hug her mum for the first time! 
• A 20 second blood test without bleeding - can we cure anemia? 

Site tours

There is nothing like getting out on site and seeing maths and engineering ‘in the flesh’. Site tours don’t have to be your typical construction site. You can take students to your local airport of you are in a regional town, inside a highrise building - ask the maintenance team or design engineers to explain how they clean the windows or how the air temperature is comfortable, to the hyperbaric chamber at the hospital or behind the scenes at Brisbane’s transport management centre. There are loads of infrastructure projects happening right now (see Westgate Tunnel Project or Melbourne Metro) who have site offices and mandates to engage with the local community. 

Top tips:

• Be specific with what you are looking for - I have 25 students that I want to take on a 60 or 90 minute tour
• Industry wants to improve their communication skills - it’s essential to be a good communicator. Educators can help professionals and share the best ways to speak to and engage your students
• Engineers love nerding out and sharing their work with you - just ask! 

Create a collaborative project with industry

Working with industry partners at the Engineering Practice Academy we are finding plenty of problems our students can help solve. The surprising thing - industry wants our help as we can give a fresh perspective and new insights. Sometimes projects don’t fit neatly into a set timetable of 6 weeks so consider options of staging the project and work on it over the year.

Ask industry:

• Do you have an ideas folder of projects that you have been wanting to do but never get to?
• What problems or challenges do you have that are just not getting worked on right now
• What does the future of your industry look like? Can we help work it out?

Do it for me: give me the plug and play options

Workshops and events

Power of Engineering have great free one day events to be the initial spark of interest for your students. They are run across Australia and have 77% of attendees shift their mind from a ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ when asked if they would consider a career in engineering. Perfect if you want to shift the perceptions and put the ‘why’ in for students. Power of Engineering has lots of industry connections for site tours and speakers.

There are loads of events out there and the Star Portal has a great list of workshops and activities around Australia depending on what you are looking for. Several of the state Lead Scientists have developed their own lists of local activities. 

In classroom resources

Maths In Real Life by Machinam are real world classroom resources already mapped to the curriculum. Check out their ideas for scenarios including careers and interesting topics for teenagers that are maths themed.

Free trials for Term 3 are starting soon where you can get the resources in your year 9 and 10 classes free for 30 days.

Teachengineering.org has lots of K-12 resources that are engineering themed and free to download.