Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in ... - Webs

ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
school education. In grade 6, after some months, the students met a new branch of
mathematics, i.e. algebra. Algebra is perceived as difficult (MacGregor, 2004). It is said
that algebra and arithmetic are two sides of a coin but it is difficult for school-teachers to
prove this statement logically. In algebra, students again and again learn ―a‖ and ―b‖, ―a
square (a 2 )‖ and ―b square (b 2 )‖, ―(a+b) 2 ‖ and ―(a-b) 2 ‖ etc. Students often asked teachers
where is the use of ―(a+b) 2 ‖ or ―(a-b) 2 ‖. The next thing is geometry, the way as
geometry taught, is another problem for students. Until elementary level, students dealt
with three branches of mathematics i.e arithmetic, algebra and geometry and as a teacher
of mathematics I found most favorite branch among the students is arithmetic. In
arithmetic, they learn to calculate zakat, income tax, and solve such problems that exist in
the world around them. On entering into secondary level, students are offered mainly two
streams of subjects, named science group and humanities group. It is a common concept
that, as we are living in the technological era so learning of science subjects is more
important than humanities. It is also a common view of teachers that science group is
comparatively difficult and the students who have no taste of science subjects or slow
learners may not adopt science group. But it is very strange that both the groups learn
same mathematics as a compulsory subject. Secondary level mathematics consists on
sets, System of real numbers, logarithms, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and theorems.
Learning these topics is not easy for humanities‘ students. Majority of the Humanities‘
students learn mathematics without conceptual understanding. Research suggests that
students who develop conceptual understanding early perform best on procedural
knowledge later. Students with good conceptual understanding are able to perform
successfully on near-transfer tasks and to develop procedures and skills they have not
been taught (Grouws, & Cebulla, 2000). After completing matriculation, students of
humanities join arts subjects or the group of subjects in which mathematics is not
compulsory. Currently, business education is very popular among the young generation
and with the passage of time, its importance is increasing. In Business Education , once
again, students met business mathematics in the business education. The question arose,
is there any relationship between secondary mathematics and the business mathematics?.
No doubt, understanding of mathematics is very important for understanding of other
subjects, but secondary mathematics consist on algebra and geometry which are
considered hard to understand, whereas business mathematics deals with the day to day
life problems and provide ways to solve problems appeared in daily life situation.
2. Literature Review
Mathematics always occupied a crucial position in the human history and with the
passage of time its importance grew more and more. Mathematics is playing very
imperative role in the development of technology. Mathematics has now entered into the
field of studies, which were thought to be non-mathematics in the past. Mathematics is
now been seen as the pivot on which all other subjects revolve (Adetunde, 2009).
National Curriculum of Mathematics Grades I-XII (2006, p.1) states that
Mathematical structures, operations and processes provide students with a
framework and tools for reasoning, justifying conclusions and expressing ideas
clearly. As students identify relationships between mathematical concepts and
everyday situations and make connections between mathematics and other
COPY RIGHT © 2011 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 190
JANUARY 2011
VOL 2, NO 9