SCHOOL OF MATHCRAFT

Have you ever wondered why the divisibility rule of 9 works? Or why, when you divide something by a fraction, you can flip the fraction and change the division into multiplication?

 

As you progress further in mathematics, you will encounter more facts and procedures that seem to work mysteriously. By the time you reach university, math concepts become significantly more complex and unintuitive compared to the divisibility rules or some fraction procedures.

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We provide our students with well-researched, themed-based projects to explore the "why" behind math. It's not just about why they work, but also delving into the motivations behind why humans conceive such ideas in the first place.

 

Through these projects, students are transported back to key moments in history, where they can immerse themselves as young mathematicians and actively participate in the (re)discovery of math concepts that have shaped our world today.

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These projects require maturity because not only does the math demand advanced skills (often involving the reenactment of actual math activities performed by past mathematicians), but also the events behind the conception of these ideas also reflect the complex struggles faced by humans during those specific times in history.

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While some students may learn math well just by understanding definitions and deducing their implications, these cases are the exception where individuals possess exceptional semantic memory. For most of us, supplementing semantic memory with episodic memory is essential, as it is easier to remember events, activities or conversations than abstract definitions. Our mini-projects help students form this episodic memory and create more pathways for their brain to retrieve a certain math knowledge.

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Click the link below to explore examples of how we use mini-projects to teach trigonometry beyond their definitions.