What's Your Position On… the role of experience in the learning of mathematics?

Abstract

Learning mathematics, like learning language and the aesthetic subjects, is an active process and should call into play our imaginative and creative powers so that the subject is a delight to pupils of all ages. Investigations of every aspect of mathematics—number knowledge itself and written calculations, as well as measures, shapes, and representations of all kinds—are included. In the title of this article, the word experience could very well be changed to investigations. Investigations, to me, cover a wider range of activities than experiences, which arc often thought of as practical experiences.