Mathematics has become a very large part of society today. From the moment children learn the basic principles of math to the day those children become working members of society, everyone has used mathematics at one point in their life. The crucial time for learning mathematics is during the childhood years when the concepts and principles of mathematics can be processed more easily. However, this time in life is also when the point in a person’s life where information has to be broken down to the very basics, as children don’t have an advanced capacity to understand as adults do. Mathematics, an essential subject, must be taught in such a way that children can understand and remember. All children learn differently and teachers, especially those who teach mathematics, have to accommodate for all children’s different capacities for learning information. When teaching mathematics, a teacher has to be able to use various methods of presenting the information in order to help the students understand the concepts they are being taught. Most teachers in the past have taught mathematics through procedural lessons. Procedural lessons consist of having the students work with a concept over and over again until it is memorized. For example, children could be given homework assignments with the equation three times five over and over again until that equation is memorized. Anytime these children saw three times five, they would instantly know the answer is fifteen without missing a beat. Once memorized, the teacher will move onto other concepts, and the children continue learning. While this may sound like a solid method for teaching, there remains one underlying problem that most children will never learn through this method; why? Why i... ... middle of paper ... ...arn math so that it can benefit them when they enter society. Works Cited Barr, C., Doyle, M., Clifford, J., De Leo,T., Dubeau, C. (2003). "There is More to Math: A Framework for Learning and Math Instruction” Waterloo Catholic District School Board Burris, A.C. "How Children Learn Mathematics." Education.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. "Conceptual Vs. Procedural Knowledge - Teaching Math Literacy." Teaching Math Literacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Farwell, Terry. "Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic Learners." - FamilyEducation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Rittle-Johnson, B., & Alibali, M. W. (1999). Conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics: Does one lead to the other? Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 175-189. "What's Your Learning Style? The Learning Styles." What's Your Learning Style? The Learning Styles. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
Maths is a tool needed for everyday life and it is a way of helping children to understand the concepts of the world around them. Using the programmes of study from the National curriculum and the EYFS curriculum for numeracy, Washingwell Community Primary school aim:-
I remember how mathematics was incredibly difficult for me and because of this I can relate to the struggles students have with math. For a teacher to be successful they need to create relevance for the students. I understand how to relate the various topics of mathematics to topics of the world, which for most students is difficult to do, For example, I remember at the CREC School I was observing at, there was a student of Bosnian decent who was having trouble understanding how to read a map of the United States. So I showed her a map of Bosnia with the same map key, and we discerned what everything meant (where the capital was, where the ocean was, major port cities were, etc…). She caught on quickly as she already had an understanding of Bosnia and it quickly transferred over to the map of the thirteen colonies. This skill is easily transferrable to mathematics by using relevant, real-world examples of concepts learned by
Reys, R., Lindquist, M. Lambdin, D., Smith, N., and Suydam, M. (2001). Helping Children Learn Mathematics. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mathematics can be very difficult for students to learn. However, you can adapt certain learning tools to help reach every child. Some of the things I found to help reach every learner is through activities that align with key skills; Math Fact Practice, Computation, Word Problems, and Math Journals. You can also find activities that help students practice weekly skills. These can include; Weekly Centers, Choice Boards, and I can Game. In my future classroom, I plan to implement some of these activities to help every child reach their academic
Mathematical dialogue within the classroom has been argued to be effective and a ‘necessary’ tool for children’s development in terms of errors and misconceptions. It has been mentioned how dialogue can broaden the children’s perception of the topic, provides useful opportunities to develop meaningful understandings and proves a good assessment tool. The NNS (1999) states that better numeracy standards occur when children are expected to use correct mathematical vocabulary and explain mathematical ideas. In addition to this, teachers are expected
Wu, Y. (2008). Experimental Study on Effect of Different Mathematical Teaching Methodologies on Students’ Performance. Journal of Mathematics Studies. Vol 1(1) 164-171.
Literacy is critically important to student success in mathematics. According to researchers, “mathematics is the most difficult content area material to read because there are more concepts per word, per sentence, and per paragraph than any other subject” (as cited in Braselton and Decker, 1994). Monroe addressed the issue of literacy in mathematics as not being simply computational arithmetic, but rather mathematics as a way thinking and communicating to solve problems (1996). Active mathematical literacy has a strong connection to real life; it’s more than just memorizing the facts, it is math connected to real life with a meaning and a purpose (Monroe, 1996). “When mathematical concepts are segregated from the language contexts in which they naturally occur, learning disabilities are likely to result” (Monroe, 1996 p. 2). She further explained, when students talk about what they are learning they clarify their thinking and construct personal meaning for their learning. “The cognitive abilities to learn both [a] language and mathematics are developmentally acquired. Research evidence tells us that these abilities can be nurtured, but they
Automaticity of math facts is beneficial to all mathematics learning. Fortunately, there are ways to help students learn basic facts without skill and drill. Explicit strategy instruction is more effective than encouraging strict rote memorization (Woodward, 2006). Yet, many educators are unsure of how to help students master facts. Too many educators still have misconceptions of how students learn facts and how they commit them to long-term memory (Baroody, 1985).
Ward (2005) explores writing and reading as the major literary mediums for learning mathematics, in order for students to be well equipped for things they may see in the real world. The most recent trends in education have teachers and curriculum writers stressed about finding new ways to tie in current events and real-world situations to the subjects being taught in the classroom. Wohlhuter & Quintero (2003) discuss how simply “listening” to mathematics in the classroom has no effect on success in student academics. It’s important to implement mathematical literacy at a very young age. A case study in the article by authors Wohlhuter & Quintero explores a program where mathematics and literacy were implemented together for children all the way through eight years of age. Preservice teachers entered a one week program where lessons were taught to them as if they were teaching the age group it was directed towards. When asked for a definition of mathematics, preservice teachers gave answers such as: something related to numbers, calculations, and estimations. However, no one emphasized how math is in fact extremely dependable on problem-solving, explanations, and logic. All these things have literacy already incorporated into them. According to Wohlhuter and Quintero (2003), the major takeaways from this program, when tested, were that “sorting blocks, dividing a candy bar equally, drawing pictures, or reading cereal boxes, young children are experienced mathematicians, readers, and writers when they enter kindergarten.” These skills are in fact what they need to succeed in the real-world. These strategies have shown to lead to higher success rates for students even after they graduate
Skemp, R (2002). Mathematics in the Primary School. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis .
...ett, S. (2008) . Young children’s access to powerful mathematical ideas, in English, Lyn D (ed), Handbook of international research in mathematics education, 2nd edn, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 75-108.
The early acquisition of mathematical concepts in children is essential for their overall cognitive development. It is imperative that educators focus on theoretical views to guide and plan the development of mathematical concepts in the early years. Early math concepts involve learning skills such as matching, ordering, sorting, classifying, sequencing and patterning. The early environment offers the foundation for children to develop an interest in numbers and their concepts. Children develop and construct their own meaning of numbers through active learning rather than teacher directed instruction.
As a secondary subject, society often views mathematics a critical subject for students to learn in order to be successful. Often times, mathematics serves as a gatekeeper for higher learning and certain specific careers. Since the times of Plato, “mathematics was virtually the first thing everyone has to learn…common to all arts, science, and forms of thought” (Stinson, 2004). Plato argued that all students should learn arithmetic; the advanced mathematics was reserved for those that would serve as the “philosopher guardians” of the city (Stinson, 2004). By the 1900s in the United States, mathematics found itself as a cornerstone of curriculum for students. National reports throughout the 20th Century solidified the importance of mathematics in the success of our nation and its students (Stinson, 2004). As a mathematics teacher, my role to educate all students in mathematics is an important one. My personal philosophy of mathematics education – including the optimal learning environment and best practices teaching strategies – motivates my teaching strategies in my personal classroom.
Devlin believes that mathematics has four faces 1) Mathematics is a way to improve thinking as problem solving. 2) Mathematics is a way of knowing. 3) Mathematics is a way to improve creative medium. 4) Mathematics is applications. (Mann, 2005). Because mathematics has very important role in our life, teaching math in basic education is as important as any other subjects. Students should study math to help them how to solve problems and meet the practical needs such as collect, count, and process the data. Mathematics, moreover, is required students to be capable of following and understanding the future. It also helps students to be able to think creativity, logically, and critically (Happy & Listyani, 2011,
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a