Beauty and discovery—probably not two of the most common words you hear from your students in math classes. That shouldn’t be the case, though, considering the subject of mathematics is so inherently artistic.
Paul Lockhart, former math professor at Brown University and UC Santa Cruz, discusses the idea of math as a form of art in his book, A Mathematician’s Lament: How School Cheats Us out of our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form. In these pages, Lockhart analyzes math education in the U.S. and how certain forms of teaching and standardized testing inhibit students’ imaginations when it comes to the subject. Lockhart proposes students try to create their own formulas and theorems before being told what rules they should abide by. He’d like to see the education system nurture the discovery and whimsy of mathematics more than following set practices limiting creativity.
Click here to read more from the Huffington Post article.
Burns, Lisa. “Reconsidering Math as an Art Form.” The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 22 July 2015. Web. 23 July 2015.
