{"id":21992,"date":"2022-04-21T10:28:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T10:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=21992"},"modified":"2025-12-02T13:57:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T21:57:23","slug":"math-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/21\/math-matters","title":{"rendered":"Math matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Dr. Rejoice Akapame, assistant professor in the schools of STEM and Educational Studies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many people undervalue math, which is perhaps why April is Mathematics Awareness Month. In fact, math is much more than x + y = z, says Dr. Rejoice Akapame, assistant professor in the University of Washington Bothell\u2019s School of STEM and School of Educational Studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis abstract way of thinking about mathematics makes people think that it doesn\u2019t have relevance to our daily lives, but it does,\u201d she said. \u201cWe use it to shop for the best food prices in the grocery store, measure ingredients for dinner and figure out the distance, time or cost for travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn a larger scale we can all relate to right now,\u201d Akapame said, \u201cmathematics is a foundation for the work done by scientists and epidemiologists, which in turn has been the basis for decisions made by policymakers during the coronavirus pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMath matters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making math relevant <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dr. Arkady Retik, associate teaching professor in the School of STEM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To help people recognize how integrated mathematics is in their daily lives, Akapame started a project titled Scratch as a Mathematical Modeling Tool with Dr. Arkady Retik, associate teaching professor in the School of STEM. 足彩app哪个是正规的 project builds on Retik\u2019s class, K-12 Computing Education, in which UW Bothell students use Scratch \u2014 the world\u2019s largest and free coding community for children \u2014 to teach local youth the basics of coding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After hearing about her collegue\u2019s class, Akapame saw an opportunity to instill the value of mathematics in youth by integrating it with computer programming. \u201c足彩app哪个是正规的 software is a great tool for creating graphs, charts and tables,\u201d Akapame said. \u201cInstead of creating games, I thought it would be great to teach children how to use the software to solve mathematical problems that were relevant to their lives.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retik and Akapame used the spring 2021 class as a case study to gauge the software\u2019s ability to merge both fields. 足彩app哪个是正规的 students in the course were instructed to come up with lesson plans and then teach local youth at the Shoreline YMCA how to code mathematical problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merging math and coding <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"First-year
First-year student Daniel Tsang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First-year student Daniel Tsang was drawn to the class because of the educator role it provided. \u201cI started coding relatively late, just a year and a half ago,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought the opportunity to pass on the knowledge I have since gained to younger ones would be so fun and could potentially start them on the path earlier than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This aligned perfectly with the goals of the class as one of Retik\u2019s primary ambitions is to get young children interested in coding and to introduce these types of classes into the K-12 curriculum. \u201cCoding is important to learn because it teaches you important skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and creativity,\u201d Retik said. \u201cIt\u2019s also a skill that is valued in the workforce \u2014 and introducing youth to it is highly important as research shows that career choices are made as early as middle school.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

足彩app哪个是正规的 challenge, however, is that the K-12 curriculum is already packed with subjects, and there is a severe shortage of computer science teachers. \u201cMost who get the degree want to go straight into the industry and not into education,\u201d Akapame said. \u201cSo there are very limited resources.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Scratch to combine coding with math can help solve this issue. \u201cMath teachers can add this software into their classrooms without needing to develop an entirely new course,\u201d Akapame explained. \u201cPlus, if math teachers took this on that would alleviate the need to hire computer science faculty. It\u2019s a great model to scale up existing resources.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Career win-win <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wanting both programming and mathematics to appeal to the youth at the YMCA, the students in the class engineered math problems that were relevant to the children\u2019s day-to-day lives \u2014 such as finding the fastest route from their home to their favorite restaurant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c足彩app哪个是正规的 kids loved it. 足彩app哪个是正规的y were so excited to solve these cool problems that they forgot they were doing math,\u201d Retik said. \u201cAnd they were proud of themselves, too. 足彩app哪个是正规的y couldn\u2019t wait to show their parents what they learned at the end of the day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, one of the parents even reached out to Retik and Akapame, saying that because of them, her two daughters are now interested in coding. \u201cIt was great to hear,\u201d Retik said. \u201cWe need more females in the industry, and getting them interested at this age is a huge win.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

足彩app哪个是正规的 class also turned out to be a huge win for Rosie Shen, junior in the School of STEM. Prior to the class, she had volunteered at the nonprofit Mission Inspired where she taught the programming language Python to kids. \u201cI really wanted to grow my teaching skillset, and this class was a great opportunity to work on that,\u201d she said. \u201cI gained a lot of experience in the class and because of it actually landed a job as a tutor with iD Tech, a summer computer camp that specializes in providing computer technology education to children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathematics movement <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the success that the project has brought to both the UW Bothell students and local youth, Retik and Akapame hope to advance the project to reach more people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be great if more elementary schools started using Scratch in their math classes,\u201d Retik said. \u201cAnd if the undergraduates could start doing this work outside of the University by starting clubs in their own neighborhoods, we could reach even more youth.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shen echoed the importance of starting coding early on. \u201cComputer science and programming in general are so widespread nowadays and found in pretty much every industry,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important for kids to have programming as a skillset that they can further build on, and that\u2019s something I hope to see more of in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while it would be great to get hundreds of students engaged in math and programming, Akapame said that even if they got only one student interested \u2014 that would be a win. \u201cUsing computers to program mathematical modeling problems opens up the possibilities of what math can do and the types of problems that can be solved,\u201d she said. \u201cIf even one student realizes that, then that alone is an achievement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, I hope that the students learn to appreciate the beauty of mathematics.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Computer science students in this K-12 Computing Education class teach middle schoolers how to code their own math problems — bringing together two distinct academic fields. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,229,197,204],"tags":[],"school":[421],"class_list":["post-21992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-faculty","category-news-releases","category-students","school-school-of-stem"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Us","email":"test@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-1234","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nMath matters - 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