Making Maths Count

  • Maths – it’s too important not to shout about it

    22nd March 2016 by

    Dr Trina Dinnis has always loved maths (or most bits anyway), but at school never thought she’d really use everything she was learning. In today’s blog she explains how matrices, calculus and imaginary numbers have in fact proved central to her work as an electrical engineer. I always liked maths at school. I liked that it was logical, and...

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  • The fastest route, the likely fare – there’s a lot of calculating in a taxi

    21st March 2016 by

    Maths teachers and accountants – that’s who uses maths isn’t it? Think again. Maths skills are essential for every career as well as modern life. From computer coders to café owners, we all need to be able to understand and handle numbers, think logically and problem-solve. Take taxi drivers for instance, as Tony Kenmuir, taxi...

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  • Transforming Scotland’s attitude to maths

    18th March 2016 by

    As Chair of the Making Maths Count group tasked with increasing enthusiasm for maths, I’m delighted to update you on our work as we publish our interim report. As Executive Director of Education at Glasgow City Council, it’s no surprise that educating our young people is my priority. But, as a maths teacher, challenging the...

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  • Maths and football – predicting the Scottish Premiership

    16th March 2016 by

    Football fans start to get really edgy about the numbers around now. They’re thinking about the games left to come, the likely outcomes and what that means for their team’s league position. Put simply, they’re doing a lot of maths. Today’s guest blogger, mathematician Professor David Sumpter, has gone a step further and used mathematical modelling...

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  • Maths in the kitchen – Flora shares a pie for Pi day

    14th March 2016 by

    It’s Pi Day – largely celebrated in the US where they have a different style for writing the date, but their way does make today the lovely 3.14. In celebration, Flora Shedden from The Great British Bake Off has joined with Making Maths Count to share her enthusiasm for maths – and to mark the day she’s also created us...

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  • The beauty of maths

    4th March 2016 by

    “I just think it’s beautiful.” That’s Prof. Tara Brendle’s view of maths. Here she explains how mathematical thinking is used in all we do, and how it appears to be a subject with a special place in the hearts of taxi drivers. For me maths has always been about patterns. What first drew me to...

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  • Maths and music – keeping the beat

    2nd March 2016 by

    Paul Quinn - drummer and music studio manager

    “Music is the pleasure the human soul experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.” The words of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, a German mathematician and philosopher who co-discovered calculus, resonate loudly with Scots drummer Paul Quinn, who explains how numbers are an integral part of playing music, and the wider music industry....

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  • Using maths to change lives – thanks to a supportive mother

    26th February 2016 by

    Ever heard of the ‘growth mindset’? It’s about believing you can improve at something, albeit with a lot of hard work and perseverance. It’s talked about a lot in sports. But what about maths? Well here there’s a problem. Too many people have a ‘fixed mindset’ when it comes to numbers – they believe they can or can’t do maths and...

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  • Learning AND laughing – maths gets murderous

    23rd February 2016 by

    Can maths be fun? Author Kjartan Poskitt certainly thinks so. His Murderous Maths books have been entertaining children, and educating them on the side, for 20 years. Ahead of his show at the Edinburgh International Science Festival next month, he spoke to us about the approach he takes to get children enjoying maths. About 20...

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  • Want to change the world?

    19th February 2016 by

    Want to change the world? You should be embracing maths then. Here Caroline Stuart, Director of Oracle Scotland and a member of our Making Maths Count group, explains why. To me it seems incredibly odd that there are still people who think maths can only lead to a boring career, sitting on your own, staring...

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