How Can We Make Math More Useful?

There seem to be a few options:

1. More drill and practice with math. More time spent drilling and practicing math makes it more available for effortless calculations.

2. More practice with interpreting problem situations. We need to give students more training in noticing and converting everyday situations into the math problems they know how to solve.

3. Give real-life challenges that require math. Ultimately, skills and knowledge are sustained by usage. If you don’t have any genuine problems that require a skill, you begin to forget it.