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Time: 8 hours
Level: Introductory
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 Introduction Resource- This unit explores reasons for studying mathematics, practical applications of mathematical ideas and aims to help you to recognize mathematics when you come across it. It introduces the you to the graphics...
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- Why study mathematics? Resource
- There are many reasons why people study mathematics and they gain a range of different benefits from doing so. For some, it provides a means of achieving greater understanding and insight into the physical...
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- 1 Aims Resource
- The aims of this section are to:
- 1.1 Mathematics and you Resource
- Many people's ideas about what mathematics actually is are based upon their early experiences at school. The first two activities aim to help you recall formative experiences from childhood.
- Learning through video clips Resource
- The aim of the first three activities was to help you to answer the question ‘What does the term mathematics mean to you?’ Soon you will be asked to view a short video sequence that shows a collection...
- Maths as others see it Resource
- This video clip was recorded in the Whittington Hospital in north London. You will see a series of short sequences in which people respond to questions concerning their own views of mathematics. However,...
- 1.2 Recognizing mathematics Resource
- In Section 1.1, you were asked to consider what mathematics means to you as you study this unit. Should you continue your studies your ideas about mathematics will develop and change. In this sub-section,...
- Examples 1 and 2 Resource
- Examples 3 and 4 Resource
- Recognizing mathematics, continued Resource
- In Example 1 it is the use of many numbers that identifies it as mathematics and suggest the area of mathematics called arithmetic. Example 2 has numbers but also graphs and diagrams, suggesting statistics....
- Investigating the investigation Resource
- Look again at example 1.
- Packaging the pictures Resource
- Here's Example 2 again.
- Puzzling out the Soma cube Resource
- The mathematical writing in Example 3 also uses diagrams but for a very different purpose. It arises from a particular three-dimensional puzzle, sometimes called a Soma cube, pictured below.
- Does it make sense? Resource
- Look carefully at Example 3 and try to make some sense of it. Notice that there are four bullet points: try understanding each of these points separately, but don't worry if you find it difficult to follow....
- When it doesn't make sense … Resource
- Why were you asked to try to understand some mathematics which was not clearly written? There will be times (hopefully not too many!) in the course of your mathematical studies when you will not immediately...
- Introducing algebra Resource
- Trying to understand this example is like trying to understand something written in a foreign language. You need to be familiar with the many symbols and signs in the same sort of way as you need to be...
- 1.3 What is a mathematician? Resource
- In Section 1.2 you looked in detail at four pieces of very different mathematical writing:
- Stressing and ignoring Resource
- Click on the link to read the article ‘Cabbages are not spheres’ which is taken from a novel by William Boyd. Part of the conversation between the two characters, John and Hope, concerns how humans can...
- A mathematical muse Resource
- Click on the link above to hear the audio clip called ‘Mathematical musings’.
| | | | | 2 Tapping into your calculator
- 2 Aims Resource
- The aims of this section are for you to:
- The history of the calculator Resource
- Ever since recorded mathematics began, people have been making use of mathematical aids. Four thousand years ago, Babylonian scribes were consulting mathematical tables which included multiplication tables,...
- Using your calculator Resource
- Many people see calculators only as a way of producing answers—indeed some people see them almost as a means of cheating, of short-cutting procedures that can and should be carried out in one's head or...
- Glancing ahead Resource
- Take a very quick look through Section 1.5 of the Calculator Book, entitled ‘Everyday calculations’. Do not read it all yet!
- A pressing engagement Resource
- Work through Section 1.5 of the Calculator Book. As you do so, bear in mind what you decided about the notes you made for the earlier sections—will you annotate the text itself in the margin, or do you...
- Pressing onwards Resource
- Work through Sections 1.6 and 1.7 of the Calculator Book, using the method suggested above of glancing ahead-pressing on-glancing back, if you find it useful.
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- 3 Aims Resource
- The aim of this section is to help you to think about how you study mathematics and consider ways in which you can make your study more effective.
- 3.1 Spotlight on study Resource
- As you have been working through this unit, have you thought about how you are studying, and what this process involves? Do you feel confident or concerned about whether you will be able to learn mathematics...
- 3.2 Keeping a record: a learning file Resource
- The term learning file is used to mean a record of your work in some sort of filing system. This may consist of a file, a box, note books, a filing cabinet, files on your computer or something else that...
- 3.3 Skills in learning mathematics Resource
- A great deal has already been said about the study skills that you will be developing as you work. But how might these help you in your future study, in the workplace or in any voluntary work that you...
| | | | | Unit summary and outcomes
- Unit summary and outcomes Resource
- This unit introduced the varied components that you will use to learn mathematics: a calculator, reader articles, audio and video clips. You have mainly been working from this unit's text and the Calculator...
| | | | | References and Acknowledgements | | |
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