Math and Statistics: Relating Math to the Real World

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00:00:16.18 All types of students from all over the world
00:00:18.18 And often I'm talking about math and science
00:00:22.15 and i say something that usually surprises people
00:00:24.28 I will tell students and other people that I get goosebumps doing math
00:00:29.11 I always have. Even as a kid, I loved doing math problems
00:00:34.14 Well uh, people sometimes say to me, "Well how did that happen?"
00:00:37.02 And I tell a story. You know we all love the products of our child experiences.
00:00:42.02 Things that happened to us as kids, and I was very fortunate to have really wonderful parents.
00:00:47.07 Who enjoyed reading to me when I was a very little kid
00:00:51.28 And I started reading very early. And loved the reading.
00:00:56.07 Well, somehow my parents decided they wanted to see how to connect the reading to playing with money and with objects involving math
00:01:06.09 And before I knew it, when I was fairly fairly young, I was solving math word problems
00:01:12.20 Involving money, loving it, loving it.
00:01:15.04 Understanding that if I had 3 dimes and my dad had 2 quarters
00:01:21.07 and we'd put all of our money together, that we'd have $0.80.
00:01:25.17 And learning later on that that was the same as 80% of a dollar.
00:01:29.24 Or that it was 8 over 10
00:01:31.11 And so all of a sudden, I began to see how language and math came together
00:01:38.15 But I also began to understand how you could think about math
00:01:42.27 and anything you do.
00:01:45.00 If you look at the number of people in a room
00:01:47.05 If you look at the weight of people
00:01:48.23 If you look at the room itself, and you come to understand shapes and you see rectangles
00:01:53.02 and squares and you think about the area in a room, and the perimeter.
00:01:56.08 All these terms that you hear, in some class. In geometry, or in algebra.
00:02:00.29 And for me, what was interesting was that most students didn't like math.
00:02:06.15 And in class, as a little kid, I would watch other students either being bored or frustrated
00:02:14.24 because they weren't understanding the problem.
00:02:17.08 And so I did something that was especially helpful to me
00:02:20.24 in deciding what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
00:02:23.09 I began to tutor kids, I began to get really excited about the idea that maybe I could help somebody else
00:02:31.05 to understand the problem. Or to grasp a concept.
00:02:36.14 Or to get excited about the work.
00:02:38.11 I wanted more people excited about math because I just thought it was fun.
00:02:41.01 And what became clear to me was that it was much harder to explain something to another student
00:02:49.02 than it was simply for me to understand it myself.
00:02:52.27 And a-ha! Then I realized here's my challenge:
00:02:56.11 I have to figure out how to use language that is so clear and simple
00:03:02.03 that I can explain a concept, because I understand the concept myself well,
00:03:07.01 that I can get someone else to not only understand whatever it is the teacher is talking about
00:03:11.21 but then to help that student learn how to solve the problem
00:03:15.21 and to develop confidence. Because what was also clear was that because I had exposure to math
00:03:22.04 at home and reading. And because I was always solving math problems, I was getting better and better.
00:03:28.08 The lesson there was that we learn to do by doing.
00:03:31.29 I found that the more I read, the better a reader I became
00:03:35.21 And the more I enjoyed reading, quite frankly, the more reading I did.
00:03:40.08 The same thing in mathematics.
00:03:41.25 When a student seems to feel less than confident about the math
00:03:46.20 it's usually because they've gotten confused about a problem or have not had success.
00:03:51.04 All of a sudden, by the time I was 13, I was in a special math programat a university for the summer.
00:03:57.20 And the professor came into the class, this was at Tuskegee,
00:04:01.03 and it was a National Science Foundation program for smart kids in math.
00:04:04.17 And all of a sudden, first of all, I realized I wasn't the smartest person in the world
00:04:08.10 that there were a lot of people who had done even more than I had and I was inspired by that.
00:04:13.19 But the professor came in and he put a math problem on the board
00:04:17.27 and we all looked at it and nobody could solve it.
00:04:21.08 And he said, "See me when you can solve it." And he left.
00:04:24.08 And people were really frustrated, because they were thinking,
00:04:29.05 "The teacher's supposed to help you solve the problem."
00:04:31.22 And his point was, "No, you work on it."
00:04:34.02 And I found myself less frustrated and much more fascinated.
00:04:39.13 Because what he was saying was, I had the ability if I really worked on it,
00:04:43.24 to solve that problem. Even though I didn't have a clue about how to do it.
00:04:47.29 So we spent days working on this problem and statistics
00:04:51.14 And what I learned was that even though we couldn't get the complete answer
00:04:56.12 we learned so much in struggling with the issue.
00:04:59.18 Well, the reason math is so fascinating to me, in general,
00:05:02.14 is that it teaches you to look at a problem from different perspectives.
00:05:09.14 And not necessarily to be so frustrated,
00:05:12.12 because you find yourself not able to solve it
00:05:15.21 I also found as I went through college, quite frankly,
00:05:19.09 was that math was at the foundation of all the other sciences and engineering
00:05:23.18 Whether you're going to study chemistry or physics, even when you look at something like accounting.
00:05:28.28 You know, from my point of view, the problems in those areas
00:05:32.00 are really applied math problems in engineering, or physics.
00:05:35.23 And so I realized that math became somewhat of a gatekeeper
00:05:40.02 to many other areas. And I took my interest in helping other people to do math
00:05:46.22 and my understanding of the relationship between math and other disciplines
00:05:51.22 as a sign for me to think about really focusing on teaching math
00:05:57.01 and then to focus on helping more students to become interested in math,
00:06:01.06 science, and engineering. And what happened as I got older was this,
00:06:05.29 I began to realize that many of the problems that we face in our world,
00:06:10.27 not just in our country, whether they're problems involving economics
00:06:15.20 and understanding the challenges we face with financial situations in America.
00:06:21.01 All we're looking at are the probability we'll see certain kinds of
00:06:26.05 environmental issues in different countries
00:06:28.13 or we're thinking about health disparities,
00:06:30.29 where often such areas as statistics and math will be very important.
00:06:36.04 Because the scientists and the engineers use the tools of math
00:06:40.21 in solving problems. Well I'm at a university that really enjoys
00:06:45.11 seeing students excel and about half of our students are in
00:06:49.03 math, science, and engineering.
00:06:50.17 And what is especially important to think about when you think
00:06:56.04 about producing students who will become scientists,
00:06:58.17 is that for any student, being able to do well in math in high school
00:07:04.04 and then in college, will determine in large part the ability of
00:07:09.08 that student to become a physician, an engineer, or a scientist.
00:07:13.02 But also an accountant, as I said, or an economist, or somebody in the business world.
00:07:18.07 Wherever you go, more and more, you're going to see people in mathematics
00:07:21.29 or people with math backgrounds. And if you think about people in the social sciences,
00:07:26.08 if you're interested in things involving sociology, or psychology.
00:07:30.00 Again the quantitative methods piece will be very important
00:07:33.20 because we don't solve problems and draw conclusions based on anecdotal information.
00:07:39.19 We really do need to be able to look at data, for example,
00:07:43.09 and analyze it, and use statistical measures, and look at the average,
00:07:47.23 or look at the highest frequency, or look at the probability that
00:07:51.20 something will happen. And more and more, as people become these different professions,
00:07:57.07 whether it is in the social sciences or the natural sciences or engineering,
00:08:01.00 they see the importance of mathematics.
00:08:03.12 What's been fascinating to me over the past 40 years,
00:08:07.09 is to understand that even in my work as an administrator at a college,
00:08:13.04 as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore county here in D.C.
00:08:16.29 Math comes in handy every day, in the work that I do.
00:08:21.01 Whether it's talking about issues involving the budget, or looking at,
00:08:25.04 what we call, analytics, how you go about analyzing trends
00:08:29.07 and what's happening at the university.
00:08:31.10 And even when I think about trying to encourage people
00:08:35.02 to go into different disciplines. Let me give you an example,
00:08:38.00 we work heavily with the National Security Agency.
00:08:41.17 A lot of my students are interested in intelligence work and defense.
00:08:45.06 And NSA said to us, we need you to help us produce more mathematicians of all kinds.
00:08:51.07 Because this will be very important to have people from different perspectives,
00:08:55.13 people of all races, people of all ethnicities, who know enough math
00:08:59.16 so that they can be involved in helping to serve the country.
00:09:02.03 There's nothing more noble, I think, than serving one's country,
00:09:05.05 or saving a life, or working on the problems that can help life to be better for all of us.
00:09:09.18 And what I found is that when working with NSA and talking with students,
00:09:13.26 the first thing they'll say is, "Well, how will I use the math?"
00:09:16.16 And when students get chances to have internships and to work in places
00:09:21.22 around the country, but in the science and technology infrastructure of the country,
00:09:26.28 places like the National Institutes of Health, NASA, or the National Security Agency.
00:09:31.04 All of a sudden, they begin to see how the math and the science
00:09:34.13 they've had in their classes will relate to the real world.
00:09:38.03 And for me, explaining that foundation of math
00:09:42.25 for all these areas has always been exciting.
00:09:45.05 Now what I tend to do when I'm talking to students,
00:09:48.19 whether they are 11 or 20, is to give them a math problem.
00:09:53.29 If you're going to talk about math, why not simply give people a math problem?
00:09:58.08 Here's an example of the problem I would give, and what I always tell students is,
00:10:03.24 don't answer immediately, I want you to take the time to think about it.
00:10:07.25 The problem says this, and I remember, as I give you this math problem,
00:10:11.12 I'm getting goosebumps -- goosebumps!
00:10:13.27 29 children are in a class, 20 have dogs, 15 have cats,
00:10:19.24 how many have both -- a dog and a cat?
00:10:23.16 I actually found that problem in The Baltimore Sun,
00:10:26.25 and it was saying that many teachers and others were having problems with it.
00:10:29.26 Well, for most people, even people who like math, you'll find that
00:10:34.20 they'll want to give you an answer quickly. And the fact is,
00:10:38.22 that most of the time, that answer is not correct.
00:10:41.16 What has to happen is, from my perspective, is that the teacher
00:10:47.04 or whoever is working with you on that problem has to say, "We'll draw it!"
00:10:49.18 And the first thing people will do if they've had algebra is to give me Venn diagrams,
00:10:53.18 and I'll say, "I don't want Venn diagrams, I want you to see the children, the dogs, and the cats."
00:10:59.19 Because I want people to understand that math can be related to real life,
00:11:04.15 in a way that it helps explain the world.
00:11:06.16 And so if you can see 3 rows, 10 kids with dogs, another 10 kids with dogs,
00:11:12.16 and then put down the other 9 kids, and look at how the cats relate to that.
00:11:17.23 What you'll have to see, because I'm not going to give you the answer,
00:11:20.24 is that it takes strong thinking skills, it takes patience,
00:11:25.09 and it takes the ability to understand how one thing connects to another.
00:11:29.27 The foundation for me in math: thinking skills, reading skills,
00:11:34.12 the importance of language, having the patience to look at
00:11:37.12 the problem from different perspectives.
00:11:38.22 I can't think of any profession that's more interesting or fascinating than mathematics.
00:11:46.05 Thank you.
00:11:47.02

This Talk

Speaker: Freeman Hrabowski

Audience:

Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: November 2012

Talk Overview

Throughout his life, Hrabowski has loved the intersection of math and language. The challenge of finding clear, simple language to explain complex math problems to others is part of what drove his decision to focus on teaching math. Hrabowski points out that math and statistics provide the tools for not only for engineers and scientists to do their work, but also for physicians, accountants, social scientists, business owners and even university administrators!

Speaker Bio

Freeman Hrabowski

Dr. Hrabowski has been President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for 20 years. During his tenure, UMBC has become one of the top schools in the country for graduating STEM majors of all races. Graduating from Hampton Institute with high honors in mathematics at the age of 19, Dr. Hrabowski went on to… Continue Reading