The language of maths in science

Why do students find it so difficult to apply their maths skills in science lessons?

To look into this problem, we conducted a small-scale survey of science teachers. We found that, in general, teachers were confident in using mathematical ideas in their teaching, particularly in their use of graphs. But the same teachers reported that their students were less confident using graphs – several commented that their students needed a great deal of support with this. This confirmed what we’d found in informal conversations with science teachers who identified rearranging mathematical equations and graph work as two key areas that students find difficult.

Recently, we asked a different group of science teachers to carry out a graph drawing exercise, the results were quite diverse. 

Richard Needham talks about the findings from this excercise and offers suggestions to support teaching of maths skills in the science classroom.