Iso-taxi geometry : a new approach

Abstract

These words were inscribed over the doors of Plato's Academy, and such a forbidding perception of the field of Mathematics has permeated society since those days. For more than 5500 years, from Ancient Greece to the beginning of the third millennium, ordinary people have passed on this fear of Mathematics to their children. In ancient times, the public could have been informed clearly about the field of mathematics, the methods of mathematical thoughts, mathematical objects and their properties, and how these relate to nature and society. Unfortunately, however, Mathematics was conveyed as being both difficult and abstract, and thus, it became generally accepted that Mathematics is not for the average mind. As a result, instead of well-understood strategies of investigation, something quite awkward and unattractive appeared. The common widespread assumption that has continued through present day is that people are either good with words or with numbers, not both. Generally once a negative attitude and an anxiety are formed, it becomes quite difficult to change. These feelings often persist into adult-life with far-reaching consequences in the form of avoidance of mathematics, distress, and interference with conceptual thinking and memory processes. Although mathematics aims at right answers, these answers can be reached through open-ended problems - mathematics being experienced as a series of discoveries to be made by the learner. Rather than mathematical methods and rules, learners need to acquire abilities to analyze, question, test and find solutions. Thus, developing knowledge and skills relating to the processes which can later be applied in any situation. If such a different approach could be taken in the early stages of Mathematics education, an approach that could be built upon in later years, then great steps could be taken at relieving math anxiety and reducing the common fear. One such approach to this teaching style is examined in Iso-Taxi, or Chinese Checker geometry.