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Techniques of Learning Mathematics
Techniques of Learning Mathematics
Techniques of Learning Mathematics
ORAL WORK
Oral work is a part of the written work. Oral questions can be solved mentally or orally
without the use of any writing material. In carrying out oral work, the pupils have to solve
mental problems without the use of paper and pencil.
Importance of Oral Work
1. Most mathematics work we use in our practical life is oral. The day-to-day sale and
purchase of commodities, a small transaction of money etc., are all made through oral
work.
2. It gives enough practice for independent thinking and analysis of the problem. The
use of oral work provides good mental exercise. It increases the speed and sharpens
the intelligence of pupils.
3. Oral work helps in the process of teaching, work as
a) In testing the previous knowledge of the pupils.
b) Oral work in the form of question and idea helps in the presentation of subject matter.
c) It proves as one of the best attention catching devices.
d) It helps the teacher, may easily pay individual attention.
e) Much in carrying out revision work.
4. In solving problems much of the time and energy of both the teacher and pupil can be
saved if the oral work is made use of.
5. It helps in creating interest as well as maintaining interest of the student in the study.
6. Oral work develops healthy competitions among pupils.
Merits of Oral Work
1. Once a pupil has become well as oral mathematics be enters written work with full
confidence.
2. It develops accuracy, precision and motivation in the learner.
3. Oral problems can be employed to break the monotony of the class.
4. As it is backbone of written work it helps the pupil to have better performance in
written work.
5. It removes shyness of the pupil.
6. It is an effective means of maintaining discipline.
WRITTEN WORK
Problem solving in mathematics requires the written work. It facilitates and pushes
ahead the work that has been carried out orally. In written work the help of writing
material is essentially taken care off. Oral work gives the start and the written work
follows it.
Purpose of written work in mathematics
1. The teacher can able to know the amount of work done by the pupils.
2. It can be also possible to make the pupils in solving problems according to certain
rules and processes.
Merits of Written work
1. Through written work it is possible to have clarity of the thought and proper
reasoning.
2. It is possible to have lengthy problems.
3. Written work is more permanent in nature and so it is possible to judge achievement
of the pupils.
Precautions, which are taken in written work:
1. The teacher should give proper instruction to the pupils with regard to the work, time
limits and other facts.
2. It should not be beyond the psychological limit of the pupil.
3. It should be such as to keep the entire class busy.
4. The problems that are given are clear and definite.
5. As far as possible the written work should be verified to ensure the correctness of the
result.
6. There should be use of black board for written work.
7. Students should be made habituated of doing the work correctly.
DRILL WORK
Drill work usually to drill the minds of the pupils on the lesson taught. Drill is an
essential part of all mathematics work. It provides opportunity for self-improvement. The
basic facts and operations of mathematics have to be memorized through sufficient drill
work. Drill is nothing but the ways to revise the lesson that is already taught. Drill must
be recognized as an essential means of attaining some of the desired controls. The
acquisition of facility in operations can be secured only though systematic and repeated
practice.
Principles (Precautions) of Drill work
1. Drill period should be very short say 10-15 minutes.
2. The learner should understand what he is practicing and appreciate its significance.
3. The learner should be an active participant.
4. The drill should follow developmental and discovery stages of learning.
5. Drill sums should be well graded.
6. Drill should be based on thinking and insight so that it never become a mere
mechanical repetition.
7. The achievement of the learner during drill sum stage must be frequently checked.
8. Pupils of lower mental abilities require more drill sums.
9. Drill sums should not be used as a punishment.
When drill is provided to develop meaning, it should increase understanding. Thus
as effective drill not only develops knowledge and skills but also a means of maintaining
good habits. In this direction the pupils learn better in mathematics through drill work
because it helps them to practice in solving more problems. The practice leads them to
attain mental satisfaction and ultimately the stage of perfection, because the practice
makes the man perfect.
CONCEPT MAPPING
The term mapping denotes a procedure which requires children to “map” out what
they have learnt and how it appears to fit” Children might be helped to draw a web or
flow chart to show what they have been learning about. Such a chart represents the
ideas, concepts and knowledge that the children have been working with during a
particular unit, as perceived by the child. The procedure might begin by listing aspects
of the topic which were covered. The children can then map the relationships between
the different items which explain how they see the links. This provides a way of seeing
what they have understood. It could then provide a basis for teacher and the student to
talk over understandings and misunderstandings.
A Concept map is a diagram that depicts relationships between concepts. It is
graphical tool that we can use to organize and, sometimes more important, to visualize
content of lesson or theme. The terms (concepts) are commonly written in the “balloons”
and they are linked to each other with lines and, if needed, words that describe the
relationship between them. There are few graphical presentations similar on the first
sight but different in their approach and functionality so as in use. The most similar
among them are mind maps but mind maps serve a different purpose. They help with
memory and can be used in brainstorming as a very effective tool.
Mind maps are collections of words structured by the mental context of the author
itself with visual mnemonics, and, through the use of colour, icons and visual links. Also,
algorithm may look like concept map but just on the first sight. Algorithm is a step-by-
step procedure for calculations. For making scheme of algorithm we use special
notation and symbols.
Concept maps have hierarchical structure. Mapping is the creative process of
organizing content and can be used in planning lessons, learning, individual and group
work, developing mathematical literacy and fostering mathematical thinking. Conceptual
mapping can be easily applied to other school subjects and to everyday life. Once
accepted, making concept maps becomes the way of successful learning. Conceptual
mapping technique was introduced in the education by Joseph Donald Novak.
Simple example of meta map is given below:
Benefits of using a conceptual map/Advantages of conceptual map
1. Perceive the concepts and relationships among them.
2. Visualize, organize and distinguish concepts by their importance.
3. Develop mathematical literacy.
4. Connect a new knowledge with the old one.
5. Evaluate learning process.
6. Expand their knowledge.
7. Apply mapping method to other contents.
8. Be more active.
9. Get better results by working in groups or pairs.
10. Develop their communication skills through the presentation of conceptual maps and
discussions.
Maps allow teacher to:
1. Teach students how to learn without understanding.
2. Provide comprehensive view of the lesson.
3. Organize teaching material.
4. Visualize the teaching process.
5. Introduce new concepts and link them with the known.
6. Decompose complex ideas.
7. Check the level of understanding.
8. Identify weak points.
9. Explore the reason for misunderstanding among students.
10. Encourage student activities.
11. Connect interdisciplinary.
Disadvantages of the concept mapping
Technical:
1. Paper (if we restrict ourselves to A4).
2. Duration of a lesson (45 min).
3. Related to the content.
4. Lessons with a lot of new or similar concepts.
5. Lessons that have linear structure.
6. Mapping cannot be used at any time (for different reasons), but we can use already
made maps.
Concept maps are covering higherlevels in learning process which can be shown
schematically
<-------- <--------
In the Bloom’s taxonomy, learning at the higher levels in dependent on knowledge and
skills at lower levels. Visualization through concept maps can help to link those parts
and estimates answers on cognitive verbs.
Concept map are facilitative tools which help to improve learning, creating and using
knowledge based on reasoning and sense making. They help to develop a way of
organized thinking that can be applied as well in every day line.
3.1.4: Collaborative learning and Cooperative learning strategies
COLLABORATIVE SKILLS
Definition
Collaborative skills are the behaviors that help two or more people to work
together and function well in the process. Teachers can train their students in the skills
of collaboration so they will be able to accomplish group tasks.
Examples
Basic skills of collaboration are similar to skills of communication, which can be taught
to younger children. The University of Vermont's Department of Education has identified
a list of skills of collaboration for the classroom. They require students to learn how to:
Begin a conversation
End a conversation
Ask for help
Ask a favor
Give a compliment
Join in
Accept criticism
Follow directions
Ask questions
Say 'thank you'
Say 'no'
Accept 'no'
Encourage others
State feelings
Negotiate
Express concern for others
Listen
Take turns
Take responsibility
Collaboration is the act of working together for a common goal. The
Partnership for 21st Century Skills says that mastering collaboration skills requires the
ability to work effectively with diverse teams. It also requires the ability to "be helpful and
make necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal."
Time for productive collaboration is a must in today's classrooms.
Phillip Schletchy identifies qualities of the work teachers give students that affect
engagement. Affiliation, that is, opportunities to work with others, can be a positive
influence on student engagement.
A study on cooperative learning found that "subjects who worked cooperatively
spent more time working on practice exercises and reported greater satisfaction than
those who worked individually."
"Studies have shown that groups outperform individuals on learning tasks, and
further that individuals who work in groups do better on later individuals’ assignments as
well (Barron, 2000b, 2003; O'Donnell &Danserau, 1992)."Powerful Learning by Linda
Darling-Hammond, page 19.
Having the capacity to collaborate is an important component in project-based
learning and an essential personal and professional skill.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a national organization formed by
government, corporations, associations, and individuals, has developed a framework
that fuses the 3 Rs with the 4Cs. The 4Cs are:
o critical thinking and problem solving
o communication
o creativity and innovation
o collaboration
Working effectively with others is an extremely complex endeavor. Collaboration
skills are complicated to learn because they are actually people skills. Learning these
skills takes guided practice and quality feedback. Teacher's shouldn't expect their
students to work together effectively without explicitly teaching and modeling
collaboration skills. These skills include:
Active listening
Respect
Manners
Positive Attitude
Focused
Social Awareness
Simply telling students to work together won't lead to productive collaboration. Teachers
need to develop activities and projects where students have reasons to collaborate. We
must teach students how to be good group members through modeling, role playing,
discussion, and facilitating. Collaboration can be taught and learned by
Assigning clear responsibilities
Showing students examples
Assigning a leader
Encouraging self-direction
Charting progress
Conducting group and self-evaluations
Designing rubric to measure the process and product
Cooperative learning techniques:
Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams (each
with students of different levels of ability); use a variety of learning activities to improve
their understanding of a subject. It is an instructional arrangement for teaching
academic and collaborative skills to small heterogeneous groups of students.
Cooperation means working together to accomplish shared goals. Hence, students work
in mixed ability groups and rewarded on the basis of the success of the group. Students
work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning. It is a teaching strategy
involving children’s participation in small group learning activities that promote positive
interaction. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught
but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of high achievement.
The main purpose of co-operative learning is actively involving students in the learning
process.
Steps for co-operative learning technique
1. Content to be taught is identified, and criteria for mastery are determined by the
teacher.
2. The most useful cooperative learning technique is identified, and the teacher
determines the group size.
3. Students are assigned to groups.
4. The classroom is arranged to facilitate group interaction.
5. Group processes are taught or reviewed as needed to assure that the groups work
smoothly.
6. Teacher develops expectations for group learning and makes sure students
understand the purpose of the learning that will take place. A time line for activities is
made clear to students.
7. Teacher presents initial material.
8. Teacher monitors student interaction in the groups, and provides assistance and
clarifications as needed. Teacher reviews group skills and facilitates problem solving
when necessary.
9. Student outcomes are evaluated. Student musts individually demonstrate mastery of
important skills or concepts of the learning. Evaluation is based on observations of
student performances.
Steps of Most often used techniques
Learning together technique:
Steps:
1. Determining the instructional objectives and content.
2. Deciding the group size.
3. Dividing the students into groups.
4. Arranging of the class.
5. Planning of educational materials.
6. Giving the roles to the group members in order to provide dependence.
7. Explaining the academic work.
8. Creating the positive objective dependence and cooperation among the groups.
9. Explain the criterions and behaviours necessary for achievement.
10. Guiding the student behaviours and helping the group work.
11. Finishing the lesson.
12. Evaluation of individual student’s qualitative and quantitative learning.
13. Evaluating the performance of the group.
Jigsaw technique
The jigsaw strategy is a cooperative learning technique and efficient teaching
method that also encourages listening, engagement, interaction, peer teaching, and
cooperation by giving each member of the group an essential part to play in the
academic activity. Just as in jigsaw puzzle, each piece, each student’s part is essential
for the completion and full understanding of the final product.
Steps:
1. Students are divided into home groups of three to six students.
2. Individual members of each group then break off to work with the “experts’ from other
groups.
3. “Experts” research a subcategory of the material being studied.
4. “Experts” return to their home group in the role of instructor for their subcategory.