The Influenced Of Other Countries Mathematic Curriculum Towards On Malaysian Mathematics Curriculum.

From my reading, I found that mathematics syllabus was not standardized before The Second War. Each school was free to choose any text books and topics which suitable for the students. After World War II, western countries like Great Britain and the United States of America had always prided themselves to be the leading authority in science and technology. However, the launching of Sputnik I into the outer space by Russia in 1957 caught them by surprise. Scared of being left behind, extensive studies on the school mathematics curriculum was carried out in these countries. As a result, many projects were carried out to reform the mathematics curriculum in these countries. As Malaysia was closely linked with these countries in the field of education, these reforms had significantly influenced the Malaysian mathematic curriculum. Related projects include the Nuffield Mathematics Project (NMP), Scottish Mathematics Group (SMG) and School Mathematics Project (SMP) from Great Britain as well as School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) from the United States of America.

First and foremost, Nuffield curriculum project in the 1960s was Nuffield Primary Mathematics Project. This project introduced new methods in the teaching and learning of mathematics for primary schools. These new methods were based on Piagets learning theory. According to this theory, children between the ages of 6 to 12 years old learn best through interacting with concrete experiences. To achieve this objective, the usage of pupil-centre and material-centre strategies, discovery method as well as 1

project work were emphasized. Pupils were encouraged to learn mathematics by working on projects involving the use of mathematics to solve daily problems in small groups. The main philosophy of this project can be summarized by the following wellknow saying by Confucius thats is I listen and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. The course built on childrens own experience and encouraged them to do for understand. The experiences can help the entire student to understand their roles in helping the nation to achieve Vision 2020.

Secondly, is the Scottish Mathematics Group (SMG). SMG consisted of a group of mathematics writers who produced a series of nine volumes of text books entitled Modern Mathematics for School. These books were published between the years of 1965 and 1969. New topics such as Sets, Number Systems, Number Bases, Modular Mathematics, Transformation, Inequalities, Linear Programming and Matrices were included. The applications of these new topics in solving daily problems were one of the important characteristics of this syllabus. The materials of SMG became an important source of reference in the Modern Mathematics Project for lower secondary schools, launched in Malaysia in 1970.

Thirdly, the School Mathematics Project (SMP). The project was set up in 1961 in order to prepare a more progressive secondary school mathematic syllabus in Great Britain. In terms of teaching and learning, the traditional axiomatic approach was replaced with an integrated approach. In this approach, different topics in mathematics were taught in an integrated manner. For example, set theory was integrated with the

teaching of algebra and geometry. Even though SMP text books were used extensively in secondary schools in Great Britain, the text materials were found to be too academic and abstract. Therefore, the SMP syllabus was not suitable for students who are weak in mathematics. Just like SMG, the SMP materials were another important source of reference for the Malaysian Modern Mathematics texts. So that, can help the entire student to understand their roles in helping the nation to achieve Vision 2020.

Next, is the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG). The SMSG project was started by a group of mathematicians, teachers, psychologists and school inspectorates in the United States of America in 1958. The main objective of this project was to improve the standard of existing primary school mathematics syllabus in order to compete with Russia. Some secondary mathematics topics such as geometry, set theory, negative numbers, base numbers, and trigonometry were included in SMSG syllabus. In addition to this, the use of specific mathematical language in understanding mathematical concepts was also emphasized. In terms of teaching, SMSG adopted the activity-based approach so as to make the learning of mathematics more interesting and meaningful. Just like SMG and SMP, this project provided many useful ideas for Malaysian educators who were trying to raise the standard of school mathematics at that time. For instance, teacher can teach their student by using quiz or teaching aid. Lastly, is The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) was founded in 1920. It has grown to be the world's largest organization concerned with mathematics education. The vision of mathematics learning, teaching, and assessment is presented in the 1

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) that focus on many aspects of mathematics education and earlier National Council of Teachers of Mathematics documents entitled Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989) that focus on all students can learn mathematics and teachers play an essential role in helping students to construct their own understanding of mathematic. Besides, Professional Teaching Standards for School Mathematics (1991) as well as Assessment Standards for School Mathematics (1995) represented a set of guidelines designed to address the various aspects of professional mathematics teaching. It is very important to be a good teacher to teach their student to understand their roles in helping the nation to achieve Vision 2020.

As a summary, Malaysian Mathematics Curriculum was mostly influenced by other countries Mathematics Curriculum to make our syllabus more systematic and relevant for our students. So, all the changes in Mathematics education are helping the nation to achieve Vision 2020.

(955 words) 1 REFLECTION

In my opinion, Mathematic education is a very hard topic because I must read notes that my teacher gives me and I need to search on internet about this topic in order to understand it. There is so many things that I learnt such as The development of Mathematics Curriculum in Malaysia, the influence of other countries Mathematics Curriculum on Malaysian Mathematics Curriculum, Policies and programs for developing childrens Mathematics and some pillars of teaching and learning mathematics. I leaned all these mainly from my lecturer name Puan Rohayah binti Omar. She taught me a lot in the class about this topic. Besides, I also learn from my classmates. After the World War two, the mathematics curriculum in Malaysia having a gigantic change. The New Curriculum for Primary Schools started overall in 1983. The KBSR stressed on 3M and individual development such as intellectual, spiritual, emotion and physical. The KBSR is revised every year to make it appropriate with the time and the development of the Mathematics Curriculum. From the discussion and help from the lecturer, I manage to understand the advancement of the Mathematics curriculum, what are the aims, the objectives, the philosophy and the emphasizing. Before the KBSR, the Mathematics syllabus is not standardized. There were 3 popular projects has been done during the time before the KBSR which is Special Project, Compensatory Project and last but not least The InSPIRE Project. Firsly, I learnt about the Special Project. It was launched in 1970. The objective of the project was to improve the standard of mathematics and science in primary level following the trend and development of Modern Mathematics in advanced countries. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, headed by En. Abu Hassan Bin Ali. The project 1

was supported by American Peace Corps and Asian foundation members as the advisers. The progression of the project are the pupil centered strategy and the inquiry discovery method. It was introduced in teaching and learning of mathematics in primary school. After that, I learnt on the Compensatory Project. Due to the unequal social economic status the poor cant get the education and it is become unfair for them. This project was suggested to help poor group from the lower income family. As a sequence, it will reduce the gap in education opportunity between the rich and the poor. It was an effective method. I also learnt the difference between the Remedial Education and Compensatory Education. The Remedial Education is special teaching and learning activities to help pupils who are facing learning problems in the class only. On the other hand, Compensatory Education covers not only efforts used to overcome weakness of pupil in class but also to prevent the happening of any learning difficulty in the early stage. The last project I learnt was inSPIRE project. The inSPIRE project is from the Word Integrated System of Programmed Instruction for the Rural Environment. This project has two main objectives which are to study, develop and test on education theories so that they could be used to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning activities in rural primary schools and the second objectives is to assist curriculum development centre to implement remedial and enrichment programme in KBSR. This project was managed by the Education Learning Centre of University Science Malaysia. 1

As a conclusion, I felt happy during learning this topic. I can see clearly the improvement of the mathematics syllabus. The students were given a lot of information and guidance by the teacher and as a future teacher; I should appreciate the government as they revised the curriculum and set up a lot of facilities to make sure the next generation are well prepared to face the global world.

Prepared by, .. (MUHAMMAD MUIZZUDIN BIN ABDUL MUTALEP) 9002010-08-7039 1 MTED 2

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Bibliography These are list of web sites that I get my references: ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuffield ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_Mathematics_Project ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_Mathematics_Study_Group ~ Resource Materials book