Is NUMB3RS Good for Math Teaching?

July 7, 2006

Providence, RI:

The hit television series NUMB3RS features as a main character a mathematician who uses mathematics to help the FBI. The broadcaster of the show, CBS, has teamed up with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Texas Instruments to produce classroom worksheets using mathematical ideas arising in the show. A January 2006 article in the Baltimore Sun reported that for each NUMB3RS episode 25,000 teachers download materials for classroom use. This sounds like a great way to spark student interest in mathematics. But is it really?

Sarah Greenwald, a mathematics professor at Appalachian State University and a 2005 Mathematical Association of America Alder Award winner for distinguished teaching, isn't so sure. She is well known for her work on popular culture and mathematics, and Texas Instruments suggested that she write up her ideas. Her resulting Op-Ed piece "Complex NUMB3RS " will appear in the August 2006 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. In this piece she points out some of the complexities and risks of bringing the NUMB3RS program into the classroom.

Greenwald points out that the mathematical ideas the TV show raises come freighted with the program's violence, sexual innuendos, and somewhat stereotypical view of mathematicians. She remarks that little attempt is made to show how the gifted mathematician actually thinks and that the woman mathematician is often shown as little more than a beautiful assistant. Greenwald notes that teachers need to balance these representations with other role models in order to ensure that students will see themselves as part of the "in-group" capable of succeeding in mathematics.

Although the NUMB3RS classroom worksheets are advertised as exposing students to real-life math problems encountered by the FBI, in some cases what passes for math on the show does not make a great deal of sense to mathematicians. Sometimes the worksheets are created using scripts that are later altered, causing mismatches or even outright contradictions between the worksheets and the final version of the aired episodes.

"Popular culture can be a powerful way to engage students, but care must be taken to use it effectively," Greenwald concludes. "Without careful research and reflection related to the benefits and difficulties with using NUMB3RS, we run the risk of having the positives outweighed by the negatives."

Greenwald's opinion column is available on the Notices web site.

For Further Information, Contact:
Professor Sarah Greenwald
Appalachian State University
Email: greenwaldsj@appstate.edu
Web: http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/
Telephone: 828-262-2363

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Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the 30,000-member American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.