LEARNING BIOGRAPHY

Learning Biography

Learning Biography

Introduction

There are many psychological studies about children and adolescents' problems with mathematics. For teachers to help their students overcome their problems with mathematics, reviewing such studies and implementing the suggested strategies is of the utmost importance. Teachers must first recognize the common problems and their causes in order to apply the most efficient teaching methods with the goal to get students to correctly use mathematical concepts in the classroom and out. The problems to discuss in the present paper will involve mathematical representation and vocabulary, parental influence, and ineffective class activities. To help the students with such problems, teachers and parents should provide various representations with meaning and be positive in their approach to discussing mathematical issues.

Discussion

The body of knowledge of how children think mathematically has increased dramatically in the last thirty years. This has caused many changes in the way mathematics is presented to students. Until the 1960's, primary school arithmetic programmes in New Zealand focused on speed and accuracy in the four operations and their application. During the 1960's with the dawning of the space race, there was a belief that more mathematicians and scientists would be needed. This initiated many changes in the arithmetic/mathematics curriculum. The language of sets was included in the mathematics curriculum with less emphasis on skill and more on structure. Structured concrete materials were developed and the cuisenaire rods were introduced to primary classrooms. Furthermore algebra, geometry and statistics were given more emphasis with number and measurement.

During this period, the change from behaviourist thinking to a constructivist perception of learning has brought about fundamental changes in instruction practices. The belief that knowledge is actively created or invented and not passively received has changed the approach of mathematics facilitation. Students are encouraged to discuss and share their ideas and construct their own ways to solve increasingly complex mathematics tasks. Effective teachers are those who can stimulate students to learn mathematics,' has given rise to major changes in our understanding of how we research and facilitate mathematics. Researchers have used interviews and other qualitative research methods to find out how student's think mathematically and this has revolutionized our understanding of how children think mathematically. From this research we have evolved frameworks of how children gain competency over number.

The TIMSS report is the largest, most comprehensive international study of mathematics and science achievement ever conducted. More than 500 000 students from as many as 41 countries participated in this study in 1994-1995. This report has considerable significance as the awareness grows of how mathematical and scientific literacy affect economic productivity. TIMSS is coordinated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). This is an independent international cooperative of research centres and departments of education in more than 50 countries .

The New Zealand results in the TIMSS report did not reflect well on our mathematics education policies, curriculum and pedagogy. New Zealand, England and United States of America were all below the international mean for nine and thirteen year old students ...