28/10/2019

In an interview with GloboNews, Artur Avila discusses the teaching of mathematics.

Foto: reportagem GloboNews

Extraordinary researcher at IMPA and winner of the Fields Medal in 2014, Artur Avila spoke about the directions and challenges of teaching Mathematics in Brazil in an interview on the Milênio program , broadcast on Saturday (26), on GloboNews. Recorded at IMPA during the 32nd Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium, the conversation with reporter Leila Sterenberg mainly addressed how to teach Mathematics in classrooms and how to make it more attractive to young people.

“Any way of presenting mathematics has to focus on the individuality of the students. People have different characteristics, and there is no universal formula that will suit everyone,” said the mathematician, who is also a researcher at the University of Zurich, in Switzerland.

Artur also mentioned IMPA's efforts to create impactful initiatives at the grassroots level of the education system. "For some time now, IMPA has taken on the responsibility of promoting and helping to solve problems in the country's basic education. Both the Olympiad (Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools) and the teacher training programs aim to create better training, reaching a larger group."

Foto: reportagem GloboNews

The fear of mathematics was another topic addressed in the interview. For Artur, there is a kind of prejudice against the subject in various layers of society. “People try to find a single person responsible, like a teacher or the government, but everyone has a responsibility in this. The prejudice comes from the way the family, the social circle, and the media present mathematics. There are parents who come home and say, 'it's okay, you don't need to be good at math, I wouldn't be either.' Or friends who, in restaurants, ask the 'engineer at the table' to do the calculation.”

In addition to teaching mathematics, Artur also spoke about his research area: dynamical systems. One of the most classic problems in dynamical systems can be illustrated by the planetary system, simply describing the interaction of the planets with the sun. Even so, the mathematician warns that there are unresolved questions on the subject. “Imagining the interaction of two planets around the sun is already extremely more complicated. What is the chance of one planet being perturbed by the other until it escapes the solar system or something like that? It is still unknown,” the researcher explained.

Artur further commented that "it is not necessarily expected that everyone will become a mathematics researcher." However, its application is present at various levels of society. "Even a lawyer, a doctor, can work better if they know a little bit of mathematics. At any level of their role as a citizen, it has applicability. It is important that everyone has a good level of mathematics," he concludes.

The report is available to subscribers on Globosat Play .