Dr. M.L.A.M Maarten Dolk from the Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Netherlands gave a public lecture to S2 Pend. Mathematics UNY Class of 2019 in the Theater Room of Sugeng Mardiyono Building Postgraduate UNY on March 11, 2020. As an expert in the field of Realistic Mathematics Education, Maarten Dolk took the topic of Numeracy which is an essential ability for the current generation who will live life in the future. According to him, teaching mathematics is essentially about giving students the tools to be able to use it in the next 30 years when they become adults who are hungry to use math in their workplace; “We can predict the future and we can create the future.” 

Maarten Dolk presented the results of research in the US, where many students failed to calculate 3333 + 4998 because the students were using compound addition. One of his clever solutions in RME is:

        3333 + 4998 = (3331 + 2) + (4998)

                             = 3331 + (2 + 4998)

                             = 3331 + 5000 = 8331.

Regarding the name, he prefers to use the term Realizable Mathematics Education instead of Realistic Mathematics Education. The main reason is that the term Realistic Mathematics Education is Ducth-style English. (sgm and HnR)