I believe that the challenge of sustaining and developing intrinsic motivation for Mathematics in students is a key issue in the teaching and learning of problem solving at the primary / secondary level.
According to India’s National Curriculum Framework -NCF,(2005), ‘the primary goal of
Mathematics education is mathematisation of the child’s thought processes. The NCF mentions that mathematics takes place in a situation where students pose and solve meaningful problems. Ironically, the document goes on to state that the problems of Mathematics teaching and learning, in India are –
• Sense of fear and failure amongst majority of children
• Curriculum that disappoints both talented minority and non-participating majority
• Crude methods of
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The low intrinsic motivation issue is a direct outcome of the limited interpretation and consequent practice of problem solving through the myopic lens of ‘teaching for problem solving’ rather than the much warranted ‘teaching through problem solving’ approach.
Research shows that students learn mathematics as a result of solving problems. Mathematical ideas are the outcomes of problem solving experience rather than elements that must be taught before problem solving (Hiebert et al., 1996, 1997), as practiced in the traditional ‘teaching for problem solving’ approach. The process of solving problems is interwoven with learning; children learn mathematics by doing mathematics and by doing mathematics they learn mathematics (Cai, 2010).
The traditional didactic drill-and-practice approach of ‘teaching for problem solving’ has unfortunately dominated the teaching practice across classrooms and has led to the current situation where Math is one of the most dreaded and hated subjects. While this traditional model might be helpful for remembering facts and procedures, it certainly does not cater to the high cognitive demand expected from frameworks like integrated strands for mathematical proficiency or common core practice standards. While students may develop procedural fluency, they would often lack the deep conceptual
Lesson 1, finding the area of different shapes, differed greatly in classifications assigned to the task outlined in the study. Consistent with all other lesson plans in the classifications A and E located in the lower-level demands, the students’ were assigned a task that required memorization of the formula used for calculating the area of a rectangle (p. 49). Unlike the previous nine lessons, the students task of “finding different ways to find the area of different rectangular-based shapes” (p. 50) involved problem-solving skills.
Problem Solving Essay Shamyra Thompson Liberty University Summary of Author’s Position In the article “Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say”, the author Steven C. Reinhart shares how there are so many different and creative ways that teachers can teach Math in their classrooms. Reinhart also discussed in his article how he decided not to just teach Math the traditional way but tried using different teaching methods. For example, he tried using the Student-Centered, Problem Based Approach to see how it could be implemented in the classroom while teaching Math to his students. Reinhart found that the approach worked very well for his students and learned that the students enjoyed
As perfectly illustrated in Richard Sander and Stuart Taylor’s book Mismatch, underqualified students admitted to more prestigious institutions on the grounds of providing diversity results in a marked increase in those same students struggling in their field of study and even dropping out when compared to their peers who attend schools more closely aligned with their previous
The common core standards require students to learn how to solve problems in mathematics and English through complex ways. Catherine Snow, a graduate from Harvard of School of Education, argues, “if you’re never teaching them complex stuff… they never learn complex stuff” (Turner, 1). It is true that by learning things the hard way will increase the child’s critical thinking skills and ability to understand the subject’s content. However, Snow misses a point of the downside of the common core. Teaching students a complex way to solve a problem without the basic knowledge in the first place will make the child even more confused on how to solve the problem.
Ofsted’s 2012 report ‘Made to Measure’ states that even though manipulatives are being utilized in schools, they aren’t being used as effectively as they should be in order to support the teaching and learning of mathematical concepts. Black, J (2013) suggests this is because manipulatives are being applied to certain concepts of mathematics which teachers believe best aid in the understanding of a concept. Therefore, students may not be able to make sense of the manipulatives according to their own understanding of the relation between the manipulative and concept. Whilst both Black, J (2013) and Drews, D (2007) support the contention that student’s need to understand the connections between the practical apparatus and the concept, Drews,
The United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights shows that there has been a constant overrepresentation of minority children in what is known as special education courses. The majority of this overrepresentation occurs for African American children. Unfortunately this has been occurring for years, during the 1980’s African American students only made up sixteen percent of the total school population make up, however they represented thirty-eight percent of children that were in classes for students that were in need of special education courses. Forty years later this is still occurring, there is still an overrepresentation of African American children in special education courses, which leads to an overrepresentation of African
As teachers we need to learn to advocate for our students and reassure our students are getting the right education that challenged, but also allows them to succeed. No child should be misrepresented because of race or color or even gender because every child should be given an equal chance to learn in the appropriate environment. “The inaccurate placement of minority students in special education programs can take various forms including overrepresentation, underrepresentation, and misidentification” (Guiberson; 2009). As we review what each of these terms mean we can see how many students can fall under these sections if not properly assessed or tested towards their strengths rather than towards a general test. First, overrepresentation is an occurrence of minority students in special education programs is greater than the school population as a whole.
Next, I attended an inner city Junior High School. I was not zoned there; I was accepted through their gifted program, but this only comprised a small fraction of the school. Coming from a school in a good neighborhood to one that was subpar was a huge leap, I immediately noticed the vast differences in the quality of education. My junior high school was mostly composed of Blacks, Hispanics, and a small percentage of White. In Segregation Prominent in Schools, Study Finds, by Motoko Rich, the statistics show that “43 percent of Latinos and 38 percent of blacks attend schools where fewer than 10 percent of their classmates are white (Motoko, 2012).
In addition, they must show effort in “closing the gap” between the “subcategories.” At Ennis ISD, the Caucasian population of students may be in the top ten percent, however the African American student population’s low scores can only be pejorative to their ability
procedural fluency - Students will gain procedural fluency in the lesson through the teacher modeling and guided practice with math concepts. Students will use a variety of manipulatives to achieve a better understanding of how to represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction within 20. F. Explain how one instructional strategy in your lesson plan (e.g., collaborative learning, modeling, discovery learning) supports learning outcomes. One instructional strategy found throughout my lesson plan is modeling. As the teacher the thinking out loud while moving through the process of solving the problem students are not only hearing my thoughts, they also can mimic the process.
Often enough teachers come into the education field not knowing that what they teach will affect the students in the future. This article is about how these thirteen rules are taught as ‘tricks’ to make math easier for the students in elementary school. What teachers do not remember is these the ‘tricks’ will soon confuse the students as they expand their knowledge. These ‘tricks’ confuse the students because they expire without the students knowing. Not only does the article informs about the rules that expire, but also the mathematical language that soon expire.
Psychologists have noted the significance of motivation in education because of the existing relationship between motivation and new learning skills, strategies and behavior [14]. According to Goral, factors such as the desire to solve problems, or interest in problem-solving skills, motivation and desire to succeed, a desire to please the teacher, etc., are all among the factors affecting problem-solving skills [15]. Adair believes that creative thinking improves in an environment where double motivation, feedback and constructive criticism (Creative Environment), exists [16]. According to Wertheimer, Mayer says: Facing difficulties, some people come up with smart ideas and offer creative solutions. However, it should be noted that it is not enough to solely focus on teaching problem-solving skills.
Introduction In today’s business, maximization of profits represents the principal feature of business operations. In order to achieve the highest profits, companies have to manage their human resources effectively. Thus, employee’s motivation has emerged as a critical component, it holds the key to the success of a company. Therefore, human resource managers must motivate their employees to let them perform to their best and achieve the organizational goals.
For years, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) struggled to reform Bates Middle School’s, a highly diverse and largely minority populated school, performance as indicated by state standardized testing scores, which were 14-27% behind the county average. “Bates was marked for Corrective Action (the third and highest tier of school improvement) by AACPS” (Snyder, Klos & Grey-Hawkins, 2014, p. 3). To improve student engagement and achievement the school decided to apply a different curricular approach that focused on “the integration of art into the academic content curricula [to provide] a logical approach to address the variety of students’ intelligences that are reflected in their different learning
Having the knowledge and basic skills of mathematics enables a person to make personal and economic decisions in everyday life. A person can still succeed without achieving