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Admittedly fractions are trouble for most students. In my previous article I talked about why this is so. Percents and decimals too present their share of problems to young studentsadults as well. There is an interesting connection between these three mathematical entities and here it is: fractions, percents, and decimals are variations of one and the same thing.

When I pointed this relationship out during one of my lessons, one student looked at me in amazement and said that he never realized that. This boy had gone through school for twelve yearshe was a senior in high schooland never saw that connection. When I would stress this relationship throughout my different classes, I would get similar reactions from many students: they just never saw that connection.

Now this is a problem with mathematics education in this country. Connections are not made between topics in this difficult discipline. For this reason, students are left scratching their heads wondering when in the world they will ever use something like a decimal, a fraction, or a percent, even though these basic things are literally encountered everyday. This failure to connect math to reality harks back to questions like Why are manhole covers round?, which I presented in my article Why Study Math - The Circle. For those educators reading this, they know that a common rebuttal of the math student is When am I ever going to use this? In fact, a common gripe I would hear is This is totally useless stuff. In preparation for these questions, I worked diligently so that I could show students that there actually was a connectiona reasonwhy they were studying the particular lesson at hand.

For the topic at handfractions, percents, and decimalsstudents must be made aware that a fraction is a percent and that a percent is a decimal. Once students know that they are dealing with one and the same thing, and not three separate ones, they feel less overwhelmed from having to know all about percents, all about fractions, and all about decimals: when students now see 1/4, they know that this is a mathematical synonym for 25% or 0.25. As obvious as this may seem to those who understand it, this relationship eludes many students, and they end up ignorant about this fact, much like the senior of mine mentioned earlier. Moreover, once connections like this are made in this area, connections and links are made in other areas as well. Then mathematics is not so formidable as one would make it.

Joe Pagano

Joe is a prolific writer of self-help and educational material and an award-winning former teacher of both college and high school mathematics. Under the penname, JC Page, Joe authored Arithmetic Magic. As a result of this publication, Joe was invited to be a guest on the television show the Book Authority. Joe is also author of the charmingly pithy and popular ebook, Make a Good Impression Every Time: The Secret to Instant Popularity; the seminal collection of verse, Poems for the Mathematically Insecure, which teaches a number of valuable math lessons (often in a humorous way) and even demonstrates famous proofs in both free and formal verse; and the creator and scriptwriter of an upcoming DVD series that is both visionary and highly educational. The diverse genre of his writings (novel, short story, essay, script, and poetry)?particularly in regard to its educational flavor? continues to captivate readers and to earn him recognition.

With a renaissance approach to learning and with over twenty years experience in the science and mathematical disciplines, Joe, through his novel and engaging style of teaching mathematics, has won success for students who attempt to learn this most difficult subject. One of Joe?s principal endeavors is to give individuals---children in particular---the tools and confidence to do basic mathematics. Once obtained, these tools steer students into gradually increasing levels of mathematical study. Ultimately these same students become effective problem solvers with access to many doors of opportunity.

Joe propagates his teaching philosophy through his articles and books and is dedicated to helping educate children living in impoverished countries. Toward this end, he donates a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every ebook. Joe makes himself available for speaking, consulting, teaching and inspiration. For more information on Joe, his teaching style, as well as information on how to purchase his books or other writings, please visit his website.