How do we simplify the teaching of Mathematics?

Knowledge has expanded like wildfire with the rapid advancement of information technology. The Worldwide Web has allowed millions of people to cross boundaries in the past two decades, resulting in interconnecting individuals and groups hitherto detached and separated from one another by thousands of miles and by differences in languages, traditions and cultures. It will probably take less than a couple of decades more for us to see a blurring of such cultural differentiation and witness a confluence of ideas and activities that produce a more homogenous or, better still, a somewhat unified global community that can eventually sing a common popular song, dance a common dance or even speak a single language at any given time.

Is it too hard to suppose that we will one day see more and more people among the nations deciding to do a common activity – not unlike watching a World Cup football game or a U2 concert – or to pursue a single purpose for the common good – not unlike coming together to help the victims of Haiti? This may be too idealistic or fanciful; but it is certainly one good reason for trying to break down all the physical and psychological walls of partition that exist between people and nations today.

For there is one particular field of human knowledge that has long broken down walls of separation that often exist in other areas such as religion, ideology, politics and economics. We are talking about Mathematics – the language of Nature, as someone once said. Numbers and their operations, in whatever language, remain the same. Hence, a foreign tourist wanting to buy two souvenir t-shirts in Hong Kong need only raise two fingers to a vendor to do so. The price tag would most probably be in Arabic numerals to make the transaction possible without speaking at all.

Once also referred to as the very foundation of all sciences, Mathematics has provided humans the essential tools for understanding, describing, analyzing and harnessing the multifarious benefits of natural and even artificial processes or concepts to make life more convenient, enjoyable and even more tolerable. Think of the cell phone which allows us not only to make calls or send messages but also to watch movies, listen to music and play games wherever we may go. Information technology owes much to Mathematics for giving us this potent tool we can no longer seem to live without.

Yet, the teaching of Mathematics has remained a formidable challenge for many individuals and, much more so, for societies that feel they are disadvantaged due to their inability to access educational opportunities readily available in other societies. The progress of a nation in terms of economic standards requires a citizenry that is not only literate but also mathematically in-step with other nations.

Unfortunately, the teaching of basic Mathematics has remained almost a standardized method for the past half-century or so. Whatever advancements or innovations that may have been incorporated (matrix distribution or quantum applications) are so specialized that the general pursuit of mastery in the essentials remains the critical area most educators must engage in.

But how does one improve the teaching of Mathematics if the processes or methods have not changed at all? How can an elementary teacher simplify multiplication of single digit numbers, for instance, such that students need not resort to the use of long multiplication tables or of tedious memorization? As students ourselves, we have had our own painful struggles at what we now consider as such simple chores. If we can teach the youth today to attain knowledge and proficiency in Math without the accompanying trauma that we normally assume must come with the task, then it would be a great step forward for us all.

Vedic Mathematics