Mathematics is an important and fundamental part of human reasoning, thinking and fact-finding which helps in understanding our surrounding, world and the universe. Mathematics provides an efficient way of building mental ability and encourages logical thinking skills with mental reasoning. Knowledge of different branches of mathematics plays a crucial role in understanding other subjects like science, social studies, and fine arts.
Education of mathematics and its branches such as trigonometry attempted to accomplish different objectives at different times and in different countries and cultures. Some of these objectives are listed below.
- Educating all pupils with basic numeric skills
- Educating people to follow a trade or craft by teaching practical mathematical topics namely arithmetic, elementary algebra, plane geometry and solid geometry
- Providing knowledge on abstract mathematical concepts in the early classes such as sets and functions
- Teaching selected branches of mathematics and deducting reasoning such as Euclidean geometry at different levels of schooling
- In modern times, teaching of calculus plays an important role in intellectual achievements
- Teaching of advanced concepts of mathematics to the students who want to build their career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) research
- Educating students on heuristics including other problem solving skills to solve other than routine problems
We know that different levels of mathematics are taught at different ages in different classes and in different sequences. Throughout most of history, standards for teaching mathematics were set by individual schools or teachers locally by considering the different levels of accomplishments that were realistic for, relevant to, and considered socially appropriate for their students. However, all these things may vary from one board to another.
Different branches of mathematics are taught at different levels and in different classes. Numerical concepts such as arithmetic operations are taught in early childhood classrooms. In the high school level, introductory concepts of geometry are taught along with sets, functions, matrices, trigonometric concepts such as ratios and its applications. When coming up with secondary and senior secondary mathematics syllabus includes introduction to calculus, trigonometric equations and its functions, vector algebra and so on.
Knowledge of all these topics helps in understanding many real world problems. Also, helps in dealing with business related situations such as purchasing decisions, health plans, choosing insurance policies and selecting the right model. These things required quantitative aptitude which can be acquired by learning different branches of mathematics thoroughly. Mathematics plays an important role in our education system particularly in shaping the future probability of students. The main objective of education is to develop an individual self-reliant and wise social contributor.
Mathematics helps in improving the living standards of a person since it is used in almost every field and profession. This is due to the developments in science and technology, economics and medicine. All these factors lead to the development of society and standard of living as well. In this way, mathematics plays a crucial role in improving living standards. This is the reason why mathematics is a compulsory subject for the students up to high school level. The need of mathematics is not yet reduced even though there is wide use of information technology in most of the sectors. But rather it is mandatory to have mathematical knowledge and skills for information technology and other researches.