Learning to think like a scientist and a mathematician

Abstract

This article proposes that the goals of math and science education ought to go beyond understanding and applying a body of established knowledge, to aim at developing the capacity to construct knowledge. This would empower students to think like mathematicians, experimental scientists and theoretical scientists. These mental capacities and the concepts that underlie them serve as the trans-disciplinary foundations for research, allow individuals to function well in their professional, public and personal lives, and integrate knowledge across domains. It also functions as an effective means for the popularization of mathematics and the sciences.