Imagery: A Key to Understanding Math
"According to [New York University neuroscientist Pascal] Wallisch, mathematical imagery is what students are missing, and what causes confusion. He used the example of reading the words 'Statue of Liberty,' and how it evokes an immediate image in the mind. But if a person couldn’t read, or had never heard of the Statue of Liberty, they would visualize only letters and words, not Lady Liberty holding her torch — and the same goes for math novices. Since they have no experience, the mix of mathematical symbols on the page don’t mean much."
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“How can teachers help students find the beauty in math?” asks this article. Clearly, many students have yet to discover this aspect of math; one unfortunately hears much more about math anxiety than math appreciation. Some of this anxiety could stem from the presentation of math as a series of abstract symbols and equations.
The experts in the article linked to above argue that this murky presentation is a largely responsible for students’ apprehension about math. They stress the importance of creating math images, computer-generated or in the real world, that depict what students are learning. This would create some much-needed context for a subject that can easily become overly abstract and overly frustrating.
