Is the mathematics of China students strong or not？

　　An Admission Notice was sent to the freshmen of Zhejiang University with the admission notice. The Admission Notice reminded the freshmen to complete the Advanced Mathematics Prerequisite before reporting for duty. This course consists of 12 chapters and is open to the whole network on the MOOC platform of China University.

　　Not long ago, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Natural Science Foundation of China jointly issued the Work Plan on Strengthening Mathematical Science Research, demanding that mathematical science research be strengthened and basic mathematical science be continuously and stably supported.

　　One is to remind students to pay attention to mathematics again before freshmen enter school. One is that the state has issued a policy document to guide the development of a specific discipline.

　　People can’t help wondering, do Chinese students have a solid foundation in mathematics? What about the overall mathematical literacy? What kind of situation does mathematics education, which is related to national development, face? Is there a problem in the connection of mathematics teaching?

　　"Almost all the students are studying math hard."

　　"Mathematics is my shortcoming. I have been making up mathematics since I started studying mathematics." Xinran is a senior three student in Beijing. In this summer vacation, which lasted just one month, a 90-minute "one-on-one" math tutorial was waiting for her every day. Xinran told reporters that "almost all the students are desperately learning mathematics". In her classmate’s remedial course, mathematics has almost become a fixed choice, plus other subjects.

　　Whether a subject is valued or not can always be explained by the popularity of training institutions. The reporter’s investigation found that mathematics can always occupy a place in the popular subjects of training institutions.

　　"Mathematics is a rigid demand, and there are always many people who sign up." Li Xiangyang, an enrollment teacher of a national chain training institution in Beijing, told the reporter that mathematics training is generally divided into class classes and "one-on-one" tutoring. "There are 5 to 8 people in each class, with a period of 12 days. There are three classes in the summer vacation, which are full half a month before the start of the class. Parents usually register their children in advance." Take the summer class from Grade One to Grade Two as an example. After three days of "reviewing old things", nine days of "learning new things" and 12 days of class, the students’ learning progress just matches the mid-term of normal school teaching. In other words, the summer vacation focused on previewing all the knowledge before the mid-term exam.

　　Even in the summer vacation, why are so many people "keen" on learning mathematics?

　　天津市某重点中学数学教师陈开达解释：“每次月考成绩都可以看出来，拉开分数最多的就是数学。”数学科目的重要性总是与分数联系在一起。

　　数学难度大，但可以拉开分数差距，不管在中小学，还是大学阶段，数学总让学生犯难。

　　武汉大学工学部学生胡易告诉记者，刚入学学习微积分时“十分吃力”，大学数学需要记忆的知识点并不多，新型题也不多，综合考察的是空间能力与数形结合能力。“大学数学课时间紧，内容多，节奏快，要考出好成绩还是得靠自己平时多做题”。因此，数学复习总是会占用胡易不少时间。

　　数学家开尔文曾告诫世人，别把数学想象得艰难晦涩，不可捉摸，它只不过是常识的升华而已。但是，在一些学生眼里，数学枯燥、深奥，甚至无用而无聊。

　　数学底子厚实，但是创新能力欠缺

　　不久前，邓明扬等6位代表中国重登国际数学奥林匹克竞赛（IMO）冠军宝座的少年载誉回国。在这次全球最负盛名的中学生数学竞赛，中国代表队以227分的总成绩与美国队并列世界第一。

　　在本次比赛中，中国诞生了两名满分选手，且6名队员均摘得金牌，这也是8年来中国队员再次全部摘金。自1985年算起，中国共获得20次团体第一，在各国的参赛队伍中遥遥领先。

　　"Chinese students have a high level of mathematics and outstanding students are concentrated. On the whole, compared with other countries, China’s mathematics education level is also among the best. " Lu Linhai, a professor at Nanjing University, said.

　　The Report on the Quality Monitoring of Compulsory Education in China supports his judgment. According to the Report, 84.6% and 78.9% of the students in Grade Four and Grade Eight have reached the middle and above level in mathematics, and 23.8% and 26.7% have reached the excellent level respectively.

　　"Chinese students have a solid foundation in mathematics, but there is a lack of innovation and creation in mathematics literacy," said Zhang Weizhong, a professor at Zhejiang Normal University. Many children get together to learn Olympic Mathematics, but they only study for the advantage of further studies. Some training institutions also mislead students and parents, equating mathematics learning with sea tactics and difficult calculations. "As a result, some students who achieved good results in mathematics in basic education gradually lost interest in mathematics when they grew up."

　　PISA survey found that Shanghai students spend about 35 hours in and out of class every week, more than 10 hours in the United States and Finland. That is to say, China students’ ability to take exams in mathematics is very strong, but this is at the cost of losing their confidence in learning and increasing their intensive study time. This survey is an extensive test of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for students aged 15-16 in mathematics, reading and science and technology.

　　Understand mathematics in an all-round way and feel its charm

　　It is mentioned in the Work Plan on Strengthening Mathematical Science Research that the strength of mathematics often affects the strength of a country, and almost all major discoveries are related to the development and progress of mathematics. Mathematics has become an indispensable and important support in the fields of aerospace, national defense security, biomedicine, information, energy, ocean, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

　　Ren Zhengfei, founder and president of Huawei, once publicly stated: "In fact, our real breakthrough is mathematics, and mobile phones and system equipment are centered on mathematics." At present, Huawei has 20 research centers around the world, with more than 700 mathematicians, more than 800 physicists and more than 120 chemists.

　　Mathematics is not only related to the development of major areas of the country, but also regarded as the basic literacy of citizens in modern society.

　　"Mathematics education and mathematics science research are relatively independent, but they are also related." Zhang Weizhong said that mathematics education is the foundation and support of mathematics research. The study of mathematical knowledge lays a knowledge foundation for students to carry out mathematical research in the future; Mathematical abstraction, logical reasoning, mathematical modeling and intuitive imagination, which are commonly used in mathematical learning, are the methodological basis of mathematical research; The promotion of mathematics teaching to students’ rational thinking level, scientific spirit development and rigorous and realistic attitude is the literacy basis for mathematical scientific research.

　　"Although the achievements of China students in the Olympic Mathematics and other fields are obvious to all," Lu Linhai said, "China’s mathematics education has not produced the top students". Compared with the number of winners of these Olympic Games, their achievements in scientific research and their contribution to the development of mathematics in the world have almost never attracted attention. What is the reason for it

　　A comparative data of Chinese and American students’ mathematical ability shows that China students are 40% higher than their American peers in solving calculation problems, 22% higher in solving simple problems, more than 20% higher in solving complex problems with limited process, and 4% lower in solving complex problems with open process.

　　Lv Linhai analyzed that some China students often deviate from cultural attributes to learn mathematics, and regard mathematics as a calculation skill and an examination tool, which easily leads to "separation" between learning and application.

　　"Different cultural backgrounds lead to great differences in mathematical thinking between China children and Western children." Lv Linhai added that in China’s examination system, the development goal of mathematics for students is to get high marks, which "embodies utilitarian function rather than rational thinking". He suggested that in order to create a good scientific research environment, respect the laws of mathematics and make a group of outstanding mathematicians stand out, it is necessary to let more students fully understand mathematics and feel its charm.