Knowing of my interest in learning resources, a kind friend sent me a link to the most recent Monday Puzzles article on The Guardian which presents a set of mathematical puzzles sourced from Mathigon.
Aimed at school-aged and college students, Mathigon is described as "an interactive textbook". I love the look and feel of the site, which encourages learners to explore, develop their skills and properly interact with different mathematical concepts. Registration is optional, free, and enables you to track your learning.
The site is still in development: many areas are not yet available, though personally I think it's already well-rounded and very interesting. My favourite sections are those which encourage us to think of how math interacts with real-life rather than simply as a theoretical construct:
Everything in our world follows mathematical laws: from the motion of stars and galaxies to the transmission of phone signals, bus timetables, weather prediction and online banking. Mathematics lets us describe and explain all of these examples, and can reveal profound truths about their underlying patterns.
In this way, it reminds me a lot of Jo Boaler's "How to Learn Math" course, which remains one of my favourite resources as it helps students begin to understand the great beauty and power of mathematics in our experiences of the world.
Mathigon is a dream learning resource for students (and teachers) of maths, which was conceived, coded, written and designed by Philipp Legner, aged 26 - a truly impressive feat for one single person to accomplish!
The Guardian article explains more:
Legner studied maths at Cambridge university. He got the idea for Mathigon when volunteering for a maths outreach project with local schools. “I always meet kids (and adults) who “hate” mathematics, so I wanted to develop a platform where every student can enjoy learning mathematics – just like I did. Rather than simply memorising equations and procedures, I want students to be able to explore, discover and be creative.”
Needless to say, I've already created my own account to enable me to play around with the site. Please head over to Mathigon to see for yourself, and share with anyone you think could benefit from this rich and fascinating free resource.
Image credit: Screenshot of the website provided by Mathigon within the media kit.
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