Coding and math: How related are these fields?

Many teachers face a hard challenge when teaching their students math. It is very common to witness kids, in classrooms all over the globe, that appear to be allergic to math, formulas, algorithms, and equations. Several educators are constantly trying to find new, engaging ways to teach math to their students without success. Therefore, we pretend to be a light of hope for those teachers and let them know there is an amazing possibility to make their students understand that mathematics isn’t only a practical tool they can use every day, but it is also engaging, and fun.

One of the many reasons that inspired the creation of STEM education was to offer students practical tools and ways to use science, technology, engineering, and math, but this last field has always been a bit more problematic. That is exactly why we wondered how we can motivate our students to appreciate math and to understand it in a smoother, easier way. The answer to that “how?” is very simple: Coding.

Math and coding are deeply related, and when teaching your students how to code, you are -at the same time- delivering mathematical content, and a way of thinking that they can use, later on, while calculating something specific in their math class. It gets better, your students will acquire these mathematical skills and abilities without even noticing it, and while having fun.

Are you ready to hear how related these fields are and how can coding help your students fall in love with mathematics? Here we go!

Believe it or not, coding is full of math. When your kids participate in a Cyber Robotics Coding Competition, or when they learn how to program their very own virtual robot, they are applying principles that belong to mathematics and developing strong mathematical thinking that will help them in many areas of their academic and personal life.

At the end of the day, the secret ingredient of the engaging formula is to make math a field that is closer to your students’ interests and goals, and to show them -hands-on- how can these curricula be applied in reality. Therefore, the times of “when is the train from Detroit going to arrive to Washington” are every day less relevant for the kids of today.

Coding robots, on the other hand, offer students practical and fun approaches to mathematics and technology, forcing them (in a very natural way) to discover what is the best to make their very own virtual robot do a specific task or complete a certain mission.

Incorporating gamified elements into the classroom has proven itself to work fantastically well. Educational systems like Montessori, who allow the learner to experience education in first-person, show outstanding results when those same students create entrepreneurship or when they simply penetrate their local workforce. Students who learn the required subjects in a hands-on learning format and with gamified, engaging elements perform better. Fact.

It is exactly because of these reasons that coding and programming appear to be a phenomenal way to deliver math knowledge to students. Imagine teaching fractions, derivatives, or simple equations in a normal classroom and using the same whiteboard your parents use, and now compare it to teaching the same content while your students are coding their very own app, or when they are programming a LEGO Mindstorms EV3.

Virtual robots and cyber robotics are an amazing way to teach STEM and maths, it can help close the gender gap in STEM education, it can show some traditional math haters that this subject can be learned (and applied) in a different way, and it can help them understand that mathematics is way wider than what the math teacher we had explained back in the day.

This is true. Coding, at the bottom line, is math. In order to write a line of code that works well, and that is completely bug-free, coders need to strengthen their algorithmic thinking and computational thinking. And what are these two ways of thinking in their deepest essence: Math. At the end of the day, if you want your students to learn a great programming language for kids, their mathematical thinking should be performing well enough for them to succeed.

The good news is: Your students can strengthen their mathematical thinking the opposite way around. They don’t have to begin with math to progress to coding; they can actually start coding and, in the way, get way better in math and even highlighting in your math evaluations.

Start offering your students a new way of thinking. Let them experience math in a hands-on, dynamic, and engaging format, and be amazed by the results you’ll see in your class. You can start by registering for a 14-day free trial of CoderZ and experiencing how it feels to teach with spectacular virtual robots. Give it a try!

Because math is coding, and coding is math… may the code be with you!