Learning to love math through the exploration of maypole patterns
Julianna Campbell & Christine von Renesse
The article "Learning to Love Math through the Exploration of Maypole Patterns" examines how an inquiry-based, arts-integrated math course can change the way liberal arts students think about math. The article is based on a Mathematics for Liberal Arts class and focuses on maypole dancing as a way to introduce students to advanced mathematical thinking. Rather than being given formulas or procedures, students are encouraged to create their own questions, conjectures, representations, and proofs.
The
article describes a number of models of ribbon interactions, primarily the tree
model, letter model, and screen (Excel) model, which enable students to examine
the over-under ribbon interactions mathematically. Using these models, the
class defines equivalent ribbon patterns (rotations, reflections, translations,
swaps, and color changes) and proves theorems about when two dances are the
"same" pattern.
The
students then use combinatorial thinking to determine the number of
non-equivalent ribbon configurations for six ribbons based on various color
constraints. In addition to the mathematical content, the article highlights
the role of inquiry-based learning in overcoming the fear of error, increasing
ownership of ideas, and changing the perception of math from rigid and
procedural to creative and exploratory. The article also features a student
experience that clearly shows how curiosity and struggle lead to confidence and
joy in learning math.
Stop
1: For the first time… I was encouraged to ask questions.
I stopped
here because it brought back memories of my experience as a learner. For a long
time, math was about following procedures, memorizing formulas, and avoiding
errors. Asking too many questions sometimes meant holding the class back or
appearing weak. Reading how the student in the article felt safe to wonder
made me reflect on how powerful that feeling is. When learners are encouraged
to question rather than simply answer, math becomes an investigation rather
than a survival experience.
As a teacher, this stop is very relevant to my practice. I see now how easily
learners can become disengaged when math is presented as a fixed and procedural
subject. Providing a space for curiosity, confusion, and conversation is not a
soft addition – it is essential.
Stop 2:
Representing the dance mathematically
I stopped
at the point where the students were having difficulty representing the maypole
dance. The students did not readily come up with the “correct” representation;
instead, they tried, failed, and finally came up with representations. This
caught my attention because I have noticed this in my own learning and teaching:
understanding comes after struggling, not before.
In my own
learning, I used to think that struggling meant that I was “not good at math.”
But now I realize that struggling is actually a part of doing math. As a
teacher, this experience reminds me to be more patient with students when they
are struggling with concepts such as graphs, functions, or geometry.
Questions
for discussion:
·
Inquiry-based
learning asks students to explore, question, and justify ideas instead of just
following procedures.
What challenges might teachers face when using this approach in real
classrooms?
·
Have
you ever had a learning experience that changed how you saw the subject? What
made the difference?
Hi Rosmy, I really appreciated your post, especially the moment you paused at “for the first time… I was encouraged to ask questions.” That line stood out to me too. It captures how different math feels when curiosity is allowed, instead of everything being about speed and correctness.
ReplyDeleteYour second stop about representation also resonated with me. The idea that students struggled before finding a way to represent the maypole mathematically felt very familiar. It reminded me of my own experience at the gym when I first started strength training. In the beginning, I tried to copy exercises exactly as they were shown, but nothing really made sense. I didn’t understand balance, form, or how small adjustments changed everything. I used to think that meant I was “bad” at it.
Over time, through trying, failing, and paying attention to how my body responded, patterns started to emerge. I began to understand alignment, repetition, and progression, but only after struggling with it. No one could have explained that to me fully in advance. That feels similar to what the students experienced when they tried to represent the dance. Understanding came after the struggle, not before.
On your question about challenges, I think inquiry-based learning can be hard because it asks both teachers and students to sit with uncertainty. Students may want clear steps, and teachers are under pressure to move quickly and cover content. But your reflection really shows why making space for exploration matters. Without that space, learners never get the chance to build real understanding or confidence.
Thanks for sharing this. It made me reflect on how learning, whether in math or elsewhere, often becomes meaningful only when we’re allowed to struggle and make sense of things in our own way.
Thank you, Rosmy. Your reflections opened up such an important doorway into what learning can feel like when fear is no longer the driving force. I really appreciate how you emphasized the power of overcoming the fear of error and increasing ownership of ideas. That shift—from avoiding mistakes to embracing them as part of the process—is one of the most transformative habits a learner can develop. When students take risks, they expose the gaps in their understanding, and those gaps become opportunities. In many ways, students learn far more from what goes wrong than from what goes right, because errors illuminate thinking in a way correct answers rarely do.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your point about the challenges teachers face when implementing inquiry-based learning. It’s not simply “letting students explore.” Inquiry needs structure, guidance, and a foundation strong enough for students to build meaningful questions. Inquiry can fill in the gaps, but it cannot fill in a blank space. Students need to know enough to wonder, to notice patterns, and to think critically about what they don’t yet understand. And asking questions—arguably the heart of inquiry—is also one of the most complex skills to develop. Many learners aren’t used to questioning; some are even afraid of it. That means teachers must know their students well enough to guide the growth of inquiry without taking over the thinking.