'Throughout life he was always seeking for hidden connections and an underlying unity in all things.'

Can a holistic approach contribute to the building of mathematical concepts in the mind of the learner?

Does the breaking of mathematics down into 'bite sized' pieces help or inhibit students' understanding?

Some teachers like teaching school mathematics because it is tidy, complete and logical. Research suggests that learning mathematics is neither a linear nor a tidy process. Its very untidiness pushes it forward. Learners work to assimilate new ideas to the concepts they are building and to accommodate the concepts to make sense of the inconsistencies they find. The process of bringing together different concepts in an integrated / extended task motivates the learner to tidy up, reconcile, rationalise, understand better. It is not possible to 'tick off' the linear relationship, for example, as completely 'understood' by a learner. Intelligent learning involves building a network of links between concepts. This is an ongoing organic process.

Articles to download:

Forrester, Ruth. 'Joined up Mathematics: A Holistic Approach', paper presented at Scottish Educational Research Association Conference, November 2002.

Forrester, Ruth. 'Joined up Thinking', Proceedings of the 26th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME26) University of East Anglia 2002.


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