Making mathematics meaningful: Using student-initiated problems to situate mathematics

Abstract

Mathematics is everywhere-from the minute we open our eyes to check the alarm clock and calculate how many minutes extra we can afford to lie in bed, to measuring out our cereal for breakfast and estimating if we have enough petrol to make the 18 kilometre journey to work. As teachers of mathematics. we must ask ourselves if the way we teach reflects the real-life problem-solving situations our students will experience within their everyday world.