mathematics

Making Mathematics Count

Making Mathematics Count is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Making Mathematics Count rather than just read about it. In short: Making Mathematics Count is the title of a report on mathematics education in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The report was written by Adrian Smith as leader of an "Inquiry into Post–14 Mathematics Education", which was commissioned by the UK Government in 2002.

Key takeaways

Making Mathematics Count belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Making Mathematics Count to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Making Mathematics Count from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Making Mathematics Count is the title of a report on mathematics education in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The report was written by Adrian Smith as leader of an "Inquiry into Post–14 Mathematics Education", which was commissioned by the UK Government in 2002. The report recommended an increase in mathematics schooling and for statistics to be taught as part of the natural sciences rather than as a part of the mathematics curriculum.

Inquiry and report Making Mathematics Count is the title of a report on mathematics education in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The report was written by Adrian Smith as leader of an "Inquiry into Post–14 Mathematics Education", which was commissioned by the UK Government in 2002. The purpose of the Inquiry was:

"To make recommendations on changes to the curriculum, qualifications and pedagogy for those aged 14 and over in schools, colleges and higher education institutions to enable those students to acquire the mathematical knowledge and skills necessary to meet the requirements of employers and of further and higher education."

Publication of the report was followed two years later by a conference of 241 delegates, who included mathematics teachers, college lecturers, as well as university mathematicians, head teachers, local authority consultants and advisers, and other mathematics professionals. There is a report of the conclusions of this conference, which was intended to bring together policymakers and practitioners to share information and discuss ways in which changes in mathematics education could be implemented to benefit schools, teachers and students.

Influence The Smith report has influenced debate on U.K. educational policy. A particular concern of the report was where and how statistics should be taught: the report recommended that statistics should be embedded in application subjects and taught by teachers of those subjects where it is applied. The government decision was that statistics teaching should remain within the mathematics curriculum. A more recent report for the Royal Statistical Society, The Future of Statistics in our Schools and Colleges retains this view.

Predecessor reports The report's title recalls the Cockcroft report Mathematics Counts which addressed some of the same issues but was compiled 2 decades earlier, instigated by Callaghan and submitted under the Thatcher government.

Notes

References Smith, Adrian (2004). Making mathematics count: The report of Professor Adrian Smith's inquiry into post-14 mathematics education. London, England: The Stationery Office.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Making Mathematics Count

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Making Mathematics Count claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Making Mathematics Count before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Making Mathematics Count ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Making Mathematics Count

In research: Making Mathematics Count appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Making Mathematics Count in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Making Mathematics Count is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Education reports of the United Kingdom government, Mathematics education in the United Kingdom, Mathematics education reform, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Making Mathematics Count outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Making Mathematics Count in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Making Mathematics Count means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Making Mathematics Count out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Making Mathematics Count in simple terms?

Why does Making Mathematics Count matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Making Mathematics Count?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Making Mathematics Count.