In the run-up to World Logic Day on Friday (14/01), the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) has reiterated the importance of studying mathematics as a tool to help learners develop logical thinking.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) proclaimed this day in partnership with the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH) in 2019. It aims to bring the intellectual history, conceptual significance and practical implications of logic to the attention of interdisciplinary science communities and the broader public.
According to Prof. Kerstin Jordaan, executive director of the SAMF and mathematics research associate at the University of South Africa (Unisa), research supports the fact that mathematics is critical in developing logical thinking and competitiveness.
A study by Clio Cresswell and Craig Speelman published in the scientific journal Plos One on 29 July 2020 found that, “in general, the greater the mathematics training of the participant, the more tasks were completed correctly, and performance on some tasks was also associated with performance on others not traditionally associated.”
A study by Denise Minott, Therese Ferguson and Garth Minott published by the Encylopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education on 7 February 2019 points out that, “critical thinking skills, acquired through a process of education, can equip learners with the ability to analyse and solve problems and make decisions. Societal problems such as crime, poverty, and pollution are sometimes the result of the decisions made at a policy level in government and business, which were not subject to critical thinking aided by research and due diligence in implementation.”
It further states that, “critical thinking and sustainable development is an approach to meaningful dialogue for social, economic, political and environmental problem-solving and decision-making for current and future generations.”
