Basketball can make you better at math
Popular Science...
Fractions are a difficult math concept for many children to learn, but pairing lessons with basketball may offer some help. After participating in an experimental workshop that combined education with shooting hoops, students in Denmark performed an average of 15 percent better in fraction tests than a control group that did not play basketball..
“I am convinced that sport and physical activity can open up mathematics for pupils who are not otherwise engaged by the subject,” explained University of Copenhagen sports exercise researcher Jacob Wienecke.Wienecke is also the co-author of an accompanying study on the fraction experiment published in the journal Educational Psychology Review.
The project involved over 300 students between ages 11 and 13, who attended a one hour, once-a-week meetup that tied fraction lessons to specific basketball drills. For example, teachers asked kids to throw 10 shots at a hoop, then determine the fraction of successful versus unsuccessful attempts. They then practiced converting those numbers into percentages.
The subject area improvements also went beyond fractions. Study participants also saw around five percent improvement in other math concepts after the workshop. And, of course, their skills on the court benefitted from the extra hoop time.
“Our research shows that you can easily invite other subjects into physical education and make it work,” said Wienecke“And it can actually make children experience that subject in a completely different way, while still preserving their motivation and enjoyment of learning.”
Who knows? By expanding similar programs to more school districts, future NBA Finals teams may also be filled with mathletes.
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