MIT Stem Pals
 
 
January-February 2016
 
 

STEM: The Wonder of it All!
From Richard C. Larson

LarsonSTEM means so many distinct things to different people. Some think of robot competitions, not exactly an inviting image for many young people. Others think of AP tests in math and sciences. Another downer for many! Still others may think of myriad items to memorize and parrot back on tests – math formulas, multi-syllabic biology terms, Newton’s Laws of Physics, the Periodic Table, etc. Not exactly what you leap out of bed for in the morning!

I’m not saying that students should not know the fundamentals. They should. They must. But in today’s education environment, where is the room for imagination, creativity, play, asking why and what if? And doing this may be much harder than any of the items listed above. But also much more enjoyable and satisfying.

Last month I learned that two friends of mine are pregnant, with due dates March 12 and March 17. The March 12 pregnancy is the 2nd for the Mom-again-to-be, whereas the March 17 event will be the first birth for that Mom-to-be. So, motivated by the fact that my 7-years younger “baby sister” was born on my own birthday, I asked myself this question: What is the likelihood that both babies will be born on March 12? On March 17? And, more generally, what is the probability that both will be born on the same day, any day? This is an example of playing with mathematics in the everyday world. It’s not a textbook assignment, nor will it be tested. But to identify it requires inquisitiveness about math and the world around us. We should not feel intimidated by a problem we have not seen in a textbook. In fact, we should eagerly pursue it! And what if it takes us a week to frame, formulate and solve it? Timed tests may make us think that if we cannot solve a math problem in 20 or 30 minutes, we are failures! The reverse is true. On the job, as an adult professional, if one is confronted with a new math problem, “the boss” is not likely to care whether you solve it in 10 minutes, one day, one week or perhaps even one month. Just solve it and move the project forward!

I decided to pursue the pregnancy problem and create an MIT doctoral exam question around it! The data required to address the problem are available on the web, for instance in the Boston Globe – “Get ready. Your baby is coming Early.” And, yes, the probabilities related to day of birth compared to Due Date depend on whether the baby is the first for a mother or not the first. But I don’t think one needs to be a Ph.D. student to solve this! One just needs patience and a careful step-by-step approach, perhaps aided by an Excel spreadsheet. Try it yourself! Work with some illustrative simple numbers to start, to test your ideas. If you are successful, you can generalize the problem: Say the due dates are X days apart (X = 0, 1, 2, …): Plot the probability that both babies will be born on the same date as a function of X. Send me your answers and I'll give you a grade and sign your work and send it back to you!

We need to encourage our young people to explore the wonder of math and science. To ask questions that relate to their everyday lives. Why not operate a STEM class where periodically one of the assignments is just that: Frame, Formulate and attempt to Solve some math or science problem that awakened in you as a result of something you saw, experienced or dreamed about? And add your proposed solution to your Portfolio of Accomplishments, and later submit that portfolio to your college of choice, along with your SAT, ACT and AP scores! In my view, such a portfolio is much more important than any of those test scores. Students may not be able to solve every problem they identify as interesting, but building up that portfolio will also help them discover what kinds of every-day, real-world problems are of particular interest to them – and lead them in the direction of fields of study that will help them to address those types of problems! Match making of interests and careers!

Richard Larson is the Mitsui Professor of Data, Systems, and Society at MIT. He is also the Principal Investigator of MIT BLOSSOMS.

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