Improving mathematics Essay Example for Free

Improving mathematics EssayIt is central for Mathematics teachers to create an strain in which the subject is not seen to be outside of the assimilators sphere of involvement and wherefore irrelevant. Mathematics techniques that relate the subjects to things in the everyday world will more(prenominal) readily grasp the students attention and get him or her fully involved in the learn process. Mathematics chamberpot become more powerful and engaging if it is built into an extended inquiry on a event of importance for the subject, for students, and for the world at large (Daniels Zemelman, 2004). Since the techniques practiced in the subject are used by people from retailers to engineers, teachers should take real life situations to the classroom and connect them to each lesson. For example, since the worlds nation has been growing exp wholenessntially, it is possible to illustrate a lesson on exponents using such an example (2004). The constructivist idea that learning s hould be predominantly an active and social experience should be applied to the teaching of mathematics (Crowther, 1997).Although it is easier to keep an eye on the take of achievement of a given student via individual work, it is possible for students to gain much more from learning sessions if they are allowed to interact with their peers while completing tasks. This has several(prenominal) advantages, but two very important ones are these It gives students the opportunity to gain different perspectives on the problem as well as the risk to entertain the theory explained in a novel port.Since students are more in tune with the way other students think, those who understand the problem will be adequate to re-present it to their fellow struggling students and to reveal the nuances of their rationality possibly in ways that the teacher had never considered. The other benefit of allowing interaction is that it gives the teacher metre and space to visitnot just individual stude nts, which would take the entire class period, but groups.inside the groups, salient issues will likely have already come up, and will most likely be revealed more readily by the students, as the group setting reduces the embarrassment that commonly attends airing ones ignorance on a issuance. It is often during working and not teaching that students realize that their understanding of the topic is limited. Creating an atmosphere in which questions will arise and will be easier for the student to ask is a general teaching method that will improve the mathematics learning. A very important and unnerving sectionalization of mathematics teaching is the assessment.Assessment has generally been used as a tool for screening and separating students who have an aptitude for mathematics from those who do not (Linchevski et al. , 1998). However, this use of assessment (along with ineffective teaching methods) has contributed to the hatred that many an(prenominal) have of the subject (Cock Pickard). Instead, if assessment were used consciously as a tool to determine what students look at to learn, it would become a more effective tool in teaching (Linchevski Kutcher, 1998). Inevitably, some (if not most) students in a class will attack at least one problem and come up with the wrong answer.However, during assessment it is necessary for the teacher to scrutinize the process. Mathematics problems can be considered similar to an seek in that the student allows the teacher a glimpse into his or her mental processes via the different steps taken to get from one level in the answer to another. The faulty reasoning that leads to these erroneous steps is the body politic in which students need help. Planning is a very important part of teaching mathematics, and it can be used in conjunction with this kind of assessment to benefit the students (Linchevski Kutcher, 1998). It might be found that several students make similar errors.In such cases, the teacher has the oppo rtunity to plan general lessons to address the areas in which students have shown weakness. If only a few make similar errors, for one class period undermentioned the assessment students could be grouped according to the areas in which they demonstrated weakness. The teacher would then be able to move around to each groups and explain where the members went wrong.References Cock, S. P. Pickard. Improving student learning on entry level mathematics courses through course design. University of North London. http//homepages. north. londonmet. ac. uk/pickardp/oxbrk696. htm Crowther, D. T.(1997).The Constructivist Zone. Electronic Journal of Science Education. Vol. 2(2). Daniels, H. S. Zemelman. (2004). Subjects matter every teachers guide to content-area reading. Portsmouth Heinemann. Linchevski, L. and Kutcher, B. (1998). Tell me with whom youre learning and Ill tell you how much youve learned Mixed-ability versus same-ability mathematical group in mathematics. Journal for Resea rch in Mathematics Education. November. Linchevski, L. , R. Liebenberg, M. Sasman A. Olivier. (1998). Assessme.