Editorial:

Mathematics: Is it useful?
Jill Brown and Gloria Stillman

M any governments in various countries are concerned about the high

number of their secondary school population, with what they study or
do not study in school mathematics, failing to gain any sense of the usefulness
of mathematics to society or themselves by the time they graduate from school.
At the recent International Conference on the Teaching of Mathematical
Modelling and Applications (ICTMA) at Nottingham University, UK, David
Burghes of Plymouth University raised concerns about the perceived utility
of mathematics by senior secondary students. He presented data showing the
United Kingdom being an outlier (at the lower end) when the mathematics
undertaken by post-16-year-olds is compared across countries. A 2010 Nuffield
Foundation report (Hodgen, Pepper, Sturman, & Ruddock, 2010) shows that
in terms of post-16 students, England, Northern Ireland and Wales are at the
lower end with few (519%) students studying mathematics and low numbers
(015%) studying advanced mathematics. (Percentages are of students in
upper secondary education or training.) The situation is slightly better in
Scotland with some students (2050%) studying mathematics, however still
low in those studying advanced mathematics. In comparison, New South Wales
had many students (5179%) studying mathematics and was rated medium
(1530%) in terms of students undertaking advanced mathematics at post-16.
Burghes discussed the value of mathematics for economic growth, claiming
that all governments are giving mathematics teaching a high priority as they
Australian Senior Mathematics Journal vol. 29 no. 2

believe that it is the key for economic growth. He argued that: Net present
value to the UK of a 25-point increase on PISA was said to be 4 trillion (the
value of every house in the UK) whereas Net present value to the UK of
getting all students to 400 on PISA was 5 trillion (three times the national
debt)! Furthermore, he claimed it had been suggested that success in A-Level
mathematics would result in an extra 10 000 per year annual salary compared
with those taking A-Level examinations that did not include mathematics.
One remedy in England has been to introduce a new post-16 mathematics
subject: Core Maths. This initiative from the Government is intended to target
students who are not taking A-Level Mathematics but who have passed GCSE

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 Editorial
mathematics at age 16. The focus is on students engaging with mathematics
and keeping active the mathematics they already know. The associated website
(www.core-maths.org), notes
Only 20 per cent of students study maths beyond GCSE in the UK the lowest
rate in leading developed countries in the world; in Japan, this figure is 85
per cent. This puts young people in the UK you at a major disadvantage
in a global job market. The UK government wants this to change and has put
in place a plan to encourage more students to carry on studying maths after
GCSE. The aim is to ensure that by 2020, the vast majority of all students in
post-16 education continue to study some form of maths.
The objectives of Core Mathematics are to:
Deepen competence in the selection and use of mathematical methods and
techniques.
Develop confidence in representing and analysing authentic situations
mathematically and in applying mathematics to address related questions
and issues.
Build skills in mathematical thinking, reasoning and communication.
Problem solving in context is the focus for these new courses. One
fascinating task, developed by Claire Beckett, available as part of the growing
resources for Core Maths is The great horse manure crisis of 1894. The growth
of cities following the industrial revolution of the 19th century led to an
environmental crisis: it was predicted in 1894 that Londons streets would be
9ft deep in horse manure in 50 years time! Information can be sourced online
(e.g., http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Great-Horse-
Manure-Crisis-of-1894) and/or reasonable estimates made as necessary.
Historical maps of London and elsewhere are readily available online. Clearly
a similar statement could have been made about other thriving metropolises
of the time such as Melbourne and Sydney. Limitations of models developed
could, and should, also be considered.
In Japan, the context is quite different, with excellent mean scores in
PISA (see www.oecd.org/pisa) and all students taking post-16 mathematics
with a high proportion (30100%) doing so in advanced mathematics
(Hodgenetal., 2010). However, according to Keiichi Nishimura of Tokyo
Gakugei University in his ICTMA plenary talk, PISA shock occurred when
Australian Senior Mathematics Journal vol. 29 no. 2

PISA data showed that Japanese students, although scoring highly in PISA,
have little interest in, or see little use for, mathematics! Many countries would
be delighted with mean scores of 529 in 2009 (OECD average 496), increasing
to 536 in 2012 (OECD average 494). However, the reason why the Japanese
are unhappy becomes clear in the PISA data related to motivation to learn
mathematics. PISA (OECD, 2013) describes motivation and engagement as
the driving forces behind learning and distinguishes two forms of motivation
to learn mathematics.
Students are intrinsically motivated to learn mathematics when they want to
do so because they find learning mathematics interesting and enjoyable not

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Stillman

because of what they will be able to achieve upon mastering mathematical

concepts and solving mathematics problems (p. 73).
On the other hand, students are instrumentally motivated to learn
mathematics when they do so because they perceive it as useful to them and
to their future studies and career (p. 78). A comparison of students intrinsic
motivation versus students instrumental motivation to learn mathematics suggests
Japanese students are not interested or motivated to learn mathematics.
Furthermore, in response to the PISA question regarding having seen real-
world problems in their mathematics lessons, fewer than 35% of Japanese
students responded this occurred frequently or even sometimes. In response
to this state of affairs, Japan is moving towards the inclusion of problems with
realistic contexts, open-ended, involving values and subjective judgement.
What sort of tasks would meet these requirements and engage Australian
students so this indifference to mathematics is not seen here as well? As is
often the case, newspapers provide inspiration for authentic mathematical
tasks. In the Herald Sun recently (15 August 2015), an actual mathematics
task of interest was provided via the problem situation: After learning that
the horse and cart travelled our streets at 14 km/h in 1915, we put modern
cars and trams to the test. The article looks at comparing a tram, car and
horse and cart, travelling from Coburg (corner Bell St and Sydney Rd) to
Melbourne CBD (Flinders St Station) to see which is the fastest today and uses
an online app to show a solution. Readers could consider if the models used
by the app designer are indeed authentic. Alternatively, readers could come
up with their own models to solve the problem. Along the 8.7 km route today
there are 41 traffic lights, some with two roads intersecting and others with
up to five: How might we model the impact on possible delays to traffic? An
engaging task for our future commuters? Let us hope so.

References
Argoon, A. (15 August 2015). Tram, car or horse and cart - which gets from Coburg to
Melbourne CBD fastest? Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/
news/victoria/tram-car-or-horse-and-cart-which-gets-from-coburg-to-melbourne-cbd-fastest/
story-fnpp4dl6-1227485232178
Hodgen, J., Pepper, D., Sturman, L., & Ruddock, G. (2010). Is the UK an outlier? An
Australian Senior Mathematics Journal vol. 29 no. 2

international comparison of upper secondary mathematics education. London: Nuffield

Foundation.
OECD. (2013). Ready to learn: Students engagement, drive and self-beliefs (Vol. 3). Paris: OECD.

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