Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T07:23:30.522Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Less is More: Improving by Removing

(The 2023 Presidential Address)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2023

Colin Foster*
Affiliation:
Loughborough University, Schofield Building, Loughborough LE11 3TU e-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The pressures currently on teachers of mathematics at every level seem greater than ever, whether that is university mathematics lecturers, school teachers or those who work with very young learners. So, I began my Presidential Address with the hope that no one would leave the Joint Conference of Mathematics Subject Associations 2023 feeling as though they were not good enough and must do more. I did not want anyone to go home with a lengthy to-do guilt list of additional things they must try to incorporate into their practice. Instead, I advocated giving attention to the ancient proverb “less is more”, versions of which are found within many cultures; e.g., “brevity is the soul of wit” (Hamlet), “Sometimes diminishing a thing adds to it; Sometimes adding to a thing diminishes it” (Tao Te Ching). I offered five aspects of mathematics teaching and learning that might benefit from ‘less of’ something, in each case trying to see how this might create space for more of something else. In this article, I present these five suggestions for improving by removing.

Type
Articles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Authors, 2023 Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mathematical Association

References

Adams, G. S., Converse, B. A., Hales, A. H. & Klotz, L. E., People systematically overlook subtractive changes. Nature 592(7853), (2021) pp. 258261. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03380-y CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foster, C. ., Francome, T., Hewitt, D. & Shore, C., Principles for the design of a fully-resourced, coherent, research-informed school mathematics curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 53(5) (2021) pp. 621641. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2021.1902569 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, C., Using coherent representations of number in the school mathematics curriculum. For the Learning of Mathematics, 42(3), (2022) pp. 2127. https://www.foster77.co.uk/Foster,%20Using%20coherent%20representations%20of%20number%20in%20the%20school%20mathematics%20curriculum.pdf Google Scholar
Yao, Y., Settling debts efficiently: Zero-sum set packing (Doctoral dissertation) (2017).Google Scholar
Foster, C., Learning times tables through systematic connections, (2022). https://www.foster77.co.uk/Learning%20Times%20Tables%20Through%20Systematic%20Connections.pdf Google Scholar
Talwalkar, P., The best mental math tricks. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, (2015).Google Scholar
Alsina, C. & Nelson, R. B., Charming proofs: A journey into elegant mathematics. Math Assoc of America. (2010) p. 180.Google Scholar
Posamentier, A. S. & Salkind, C. T., Challenging problems in algebra. Dover Publications Inc. (1996).Google Scholar
Rau, M. A., Conditions for the effectiveness of multiple visual representations in enhancing STEM learning. Educational Psychology Review, 29, (2017) pp. 717761. DOI 10.1007/s10648-016-9365-3 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skrabanek, P. & McCormick, J. S., Follies & fallacies in medicine (3rd Ed). Tarragon Press. (1998). p. 20.Google Scholar