Re:Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused
by rachellaw on Thursday March 06, 2014 @01:41AM
(#7352263)
If you took additional math along with basic/elementary math, they do go into more detail about the branches of mathematics. There's also further mathematics and combined mathematics, both are A level subjects.
I think basic math focuses more on arithmetic than math theory, which could explain your frustrations a little.
It's like teaching science where there's no innate notion of biology, chemistry and physics as three separate disciplines... or teaching history without putting everything in its place on a timeline and your students end up not knowing whether Tudor times ended before or after the Ottoman empire fell.
It's the big picture exposure that I think maths lacks, and I personally never bothered to step back and actually look for that big picture until I was already in my 20s. The way maths is taught makes you feel like it's suddenly going to open up, but all that actually happens is you follow one branch.