{"id":11509,"date":"2018-03-14T06:59:47","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T11:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/its-pi-day-and-theres-some-good-news-for-math-teachers\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:15:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:15:44","slug":"its-pi-day-and-theres-some-good-news-for-math-teachers","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/03\/14\/its-pi-day-and-theres-some-good-news-for-math-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Pi Day \u2013 and there\u2019s some good news for math teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Support<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Nalani<\/a>
Nalani Reid ponders a math word problem on the first day of fourth grade in September 2016 at David A. Ellis Elementary School in Boston. Classmate Alanis Vega sits at right. (Pat Greenhouse\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

March 14 is that special time of year people pay homage to the mathematical constant pi<\/a> (\u03c0). And a finding from a Pew Research Center survey<\/a> should bring good cheer to educators nationwide: Most Americans (58%) say they actually liked<\/em> studying math in grades K-12.<\/p>\n\n

The fascination about pi \u2013 the ratio of a circle\u2019s circumference to its diameter \u2013 is that it is an infinitely long number beginning with 3.14.<\/p>\n\n

Several days celebrating math are spread across the calendar. (It\u2019s never too early to prepare for the next Pythagorean Triple Day<\/a>, on 12\/16\/20.) But Pi Day in particular has grown into a popular cultural phenomenon since it was first introduced in 1988<\/a>. The U.S. House of Representatives even passed a nonbinding resolution<\/a> in 2009 commemorating the day, while also encouraging \u201cschools and educators to observe the day with appropriate activities that teach students about pi and engage them about the study of mathematics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n

\u201cAmerica needs to reinforce mathematics and science education for all students in order to better prepare our children for the future and in order to compete in a 21st century economy,\u201d said the resolution, adding that mathematics \u201ccan be a fun and interesting part of a child\u2019s education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Out of the 58% of U.S. adults who enjoyed math classes in grades K-12, most point to the subject matter as the main reason they liked math classes, rather than the way math classes were taught. About six-in-ten (61%) say they liked K-12 math classes because of the subject matter. A similar share (59%) say they disliked math classes because of the subject matter.<\/p>\n\n

About half or more of respondents in each of the age groups included in the survey say they liked K-12 math classes. For instance, 58% of Americans ages 18-29 and 64% of those 65 and older had positive memories of math.<\/p>\n\n

The survey also revealed that men (62%) are more likely than women (53%) to have positive memories of math classes.<\/p>\n\n

While a majority of Americans liked their math classes, even more (75%) have fond memories of their science classes in grades K-12. Among this group, a majority points to the subject matter as the main reason they enjoyed science classes (68%), while roughly three-in-ten (31%) say the main reason they liked them was the way they were taught.<\/p>\n\n

Nearly half (46%) of Americans say they liked both science and math classes in grades K-12. About one-in-ten (11%) say they liked math but not science, while a larger share (29%) disliked math but liked science. Some 14% say they disliked both math and science classes.<\/p>\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n

As one might expect, working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) \u2013 or earning a postgraduate degree in a STEM field \u2013 is closely related to liking science and math classes in grades K-12. But many of those who work in other occupations or have a degree in a different field liked one or both of these subjects as well.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 14 is that special time of year people pay homage to the mathematical constant pi (\u03c0). A majority of U.S. adults enjoyed math classes in grades K-12, and most who liked them say the subject matter was the main reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[373,258],"bylines":[894],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[518,519],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-11509","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-k-12","category-stem-education-workforce","bylines-mark-strauss","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-science","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":509,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/03\/14\/its-pi-day-and-theres-some-good-news-for-math-teachers\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":21996,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":21996,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":21996,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":21996,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":21996,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":21996,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.08_PiDay_feature-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Most Americans say they actually liked K-12 math class","description":"A majority of U.S. adults (58%) enjoyed math classes in grades K-12, and most who liked them say the subject matter was the main reason.","og_title":"It\u2019s Pi Day \u2013 and there\u2019s some good news for math teachers","og_description":"March 14 is that special time of year people pay homage to the mathematical constant pi (\u03c0). 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