Today we're catching up with City Lit student, Luke Welton on his experience of maths in school, at City Lit, and in everyday life.
Maths and me
Q: Why did you choose City Lit?
A: I chose City Lit because I was recommended the course at CareTrade, and I wanted to improve on my maths skills, and they provided the best learning environment for me in my opinion.
Q: Did you enjoy maths at school?
A: I didn’t enjoy maths at school because I felt that the learning experience in a huge class that was provided in secondary wasn’t as great as it could’ve been in terms of receiving feedback.
Q: Do you think it is more difficult to learn maths as an adult?
A: In my opinion, I don’t think it’s difficult to learn maths as an adult. This is because from personal experience, I had prior knowledge from school, so I was able to analyse the subject material much clearer.
Q: What are the benefits of learning maths as an adult?
A: The benefits of learning maths as an adult, in my opinion, is developing life skills such as budgeting. I believe it’s a benefit because maths in used in our daily lives, so we need to continually improve on how we analyse data, such as budgeting more effectively, and being able to prepare for the weather.
Q: What transferrable skills can you develop by learning maths?
A: For me, the transferrable skills I am developing while learning maths is my improvement in confidence when speaking. I also developed my presentation, making sure my handwriting is clear and readable to whoever is reading my work. I developed my maths skills in photography, keeping an eye on file sizes, and how much storage space I have for photos.
Q: What advice would you give to someone thinking of joining a maths course?
A: Some advice I can give when joining a maths course is to enter it with an open mind and to not be intimidated by the subject. Course tutors are there to help you, not to judge you.
The Big Number Natter
Q: What one word describes how you feel about maths? Why?
A: Intriguing. I think it’s intriguing because you can learn so many life skills such as budgeting from this subject.
Q: Love it or loathe it, everyone has something to say about maths. What's your number story?
A: During secondary school, as I was studying maths, I was too afraid to speak up during classes due to my speech impediment, thinking everyone would make fun of it. However, as I started studying in a classroom with less people in, I gained the confidence to speak up more as I realized the people around me were non-judgemental. Now, I can speak up to answer questions when I have the answer, and I am not afraid to ask for help from the tutor.
Q: Around half of UK adults have the numeracy levels expected of a primary school child. Does this surprise you?
A: This fact doesn’t surprise me because I feel like the government expects too much out of adults in terms of numeracy skills, to the point that some adults lose the motivation to improve.
Q: Can you name some of the ways you use maths in everyday life?
A: In my everyday life, I use maths to help budget my monthly expenses, and to not go into an overdraft.
Q: Do you use maths at work? Can you give examples?
A: Maths can be used in multiple different workplaces. For example, you can, and undoubtfully, must use maths when you’re an accountant. This is because you must keep track of a company’s finances, and their spending habits to make sure they have enough to budget for employee salaries and equipment. You can also use maths when baking, as you must measure the amount of ingredients you put in, so you don’t accidentally spoil whatever you’re cooking.
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