It just doesn’t add up

Having had a morning encounter with the supermarket checkout assistant from hell – an older version of the West Country’s finest (ie Vicky Pollard) – I took off with a friend and our three dogs for an afternoon walk along the River Barle. Very hard to stay in gritted teeth mode in the sunshine with a bunch of happy canines.

Driving home, I caught most of a fascinating BBC R4 programme on dyscalculia, the mathematics equivalent of dyslexia. As someone who was beyond hopeless at the subject at school (I wasn’t even allowed to sit O-level Maths), I was gripped. Could this have been what I was suffering from all those years ago?

The answer is probably not but it got me thinking about my apparent mathematical ineptitude. It wasn’t always this way: at primary school, I loved maths, sailed through every maths test and continued in this fashion for the first two years at my convent grammar school. And then it all started to unravel.

So, what happened in the intervening three years – from maths whizz to maths reject? First, we were saddled with the most frightening teacher on earth, in sharp contrast to the other teachers at the school, to all of whom I will be eternally grateful. No, this one was FIERCE; so for the first year, I quaked and trembled in class, too terrified to ask questions. Double maths was a total nightmare.

But, she was also the deputy headmistress and was forever being called out of the classroom to deal with something or other. So, for frequent and often lengthy periods, we were just left to our own devices. The diligent ones got their heads down; I would try to crib answers from my chums but because I didn’ t really understand the processes involved, I became bored and spent most of the three years looking out of the window, daydreaming about Byron, Shelley and their ilk and the boy on the number 37 bus.

The stuff that really reduced me to tears, when we were introduced to it by the FIERCE teacher, was algebra. What was that all about? I could do mental arithmetic, straightforward sums, without a hitch but algebra and all those endless mind-boggling formulae …

Years later, when I was being interviewed for a job as a government press officer, I was quizzed about my lack of maths qualifications. ‘How on earth,’ I was asked, ‘ have you managed to get by without a knowledge of calculus?’ As I didn’t know what calculus was, I hadn’t a clue but just gave a beaming smile and said ‘Absolutely fine; never been a problem.’ Which, as far as I could see, it hadn’t. It was the first and only time in a 40-year career that the subject ever came up. I got the job, incidentally, and although figures came into it – statistics and so on – I had no problem with these. I could see the point. And I can still extrapolate all sorts of interesting but probably useless information from, say, a detailed table of exam results or a page of Social Trends. (I have also run my own business for 20 years and have read and completely understood all 58 pages of the judgement in the McCartney/Mills divorce case and there were lots of figures in that.)

But today’s programme reminded me of that thorny old question ‘what is the point of algebra?’, so I Googled it ... because I knew, instinctively, that elsewhere in cyberspace, there were others like me, pondering the same vexed topic.

Here are some of the answers on Yahoo, just as they appeared warts, typos, poor English and all:

Algebra trains you to think in values rather than numbers

Meaning what exactly? As someone with an arts/humanities background, I know what I mean when I refer to values but I don’t think that’s what is meant here.

algebra is a part of basic maths it is the skill you use in order to apply those skills and because of this it is more useful than you think...it often drives people crazy because it is seen as an abstract activity only used for 'maths questions'.....but whenever you are trying to find out the individual cost of something in a multipack or working out your share when you've won the lottery with your mates or how much you will spend on petrol driving across the country.

Funnily enough, I have no problem working out the individual cost of something in a multipack: I use mental arithmetic; for example, I divide the total amount by four (or whatever).Ditto petrol and the lottery. Am I doing something wrong? No-one ever told me this was algebra. Is it?

So, you don't need algebra if you want low paying jobs. If you don't mind people knowing you use little calculative logic and if you always want to go to others for the difficult answers, then just don't worry about algebra. I'm sure there will always be higher paying people around to assist you.

How patronising is that? And they wonder why people get put off maths.

Algebra is not about calculating the answer to basic word problems: it’s about symbolic reasoning, the ability to manipulate values by a set of logical rules.

Hello? Run that past me again …

to solve for the unknown. I use it the most at the grocery store. say you get 20 oz for $2 or 33 oz for $3. by solving for the unknown you can see the better deal and shop by value rather than by price...

See above re mental arithmetic.

Algebra is important for everyone, throughout their whole lives.

Er, why, exactly?

Still, there were a couple of answers that were immensely reassuring. I am not alone. Phew.

I asked that same question when i was sitting my o levels in 1976 and i still do not have an answer for you

I must admit, I do agree, there must be a use, but darned if I can think of one, not for me anyway! As far as I am AWARE, I have lived without it, and can continue to do so, but I am sure someone will bring in a answer to prove me wrong?

No-one did.

Comments

[Maureen]

I put your question to my mathematician husband and he agreed with you that mental arithmetic will get you to the same result in a calculation but it will take ten times longer. He also said that we could not have formulas without algebra. I take his word on trust!

I recall my first lesson in algebra vividly. My maths teacher was Sister Dolores, who must have been in her 80s at the time,(she had taught the grandmothers of some of the girls in my class). The teacher's desk was on a raised platform and Sr D stood at the centre facing us and said "I am at zero", then she turned right and counted five steps and said "Now I am plus 5". She walked back to the centre and said, "I am zero", then five steps to the left, " I am minus 5". She then asked us where she would be if she walked 15 steps to the right from that spot and one bright spark called out "Off the rostrum!" We were all put in detention for being disrespectful and that was algebra for us until Sr D retired the following year.

Ours was an excellent convent grammar school in every other respect!

[Janet]

I made a mess of A level maths but I see the point of algebra. It helps with generalisations. If you know that most buses run ten minutes late then the expected time of arrival of a bus is (a+10). For 'a' put in the advertised time. If buses from Derbyshire are delayed by an extra 5 minutes then use the formula (a+10+5). If on some routes there is a problem with a bus pass that takes 4 minutes to sort out for each passenger then the total delay is (a+10+[e x 4}) where 'e' is the number of passengers over 60. Doing the algebra in your head stops you losing your temper.

[60 Going On 16]

Thank you for the feedback! I do hope that everyone realised that this post was meant to be ever so slightly tongue in cheek ...

Sadly, even your erudite arguments for algebra still haven't convinced me. It takes only a second or two for me to divide one figure by four - or whatever- and compare it with a similar figure, so, in terms of time saving, we're probably talking nano-seconds here. And, at my age, I guess I can live with that.

As far as attempting to use algebra to work out bus timetables is concerned - fairly theoretical for me as there are no buses where I live - I'd be more likely to lose my temper trying to get my head round equations. The mere sight of letters with brackets round them is likely to bring on a mild panic attack and miserable memories of adolescent failure.

On a serious note, however, if teachers are to engage children and young people in maths (well, any subject come to that), they have to have, first and foremost, superb language and communication skills and the ability to turn dry facts into something fascinating and relevant. (Gradgrinds not wanted on voyage.) It can be done; I've seen it done in two of the colleges I worked with and it was inspirational.

PS What are trigonometry and logarithms for? I just thought I'd ask.

[Janet]

A quick off-the-top-of-the-head answer to PS. Trigonometry is to work out measurements of objects that are too big for a tape measure - by measuring angles (with a protractor if needs be) and logarithms used to be for converting large numbers - that couldn't be easily multiplied or divided - into powers of 10 and checking them against log tables. Now that everyone uses calculators they may have gone the same way as the slide rule and the abacus.