Can We Improve the Learning of Mathematics?

It is, I think, sufficient information to indicate that students and teachers in mathematics, the least popular subjects in primary, and has been since before I began teaching math 40 years ago, true.

After a life spent in math class, I conclude that despite improvements in our understanding of how children learn and new methods of teaching mathematics, students are still schools with low math skills. For clarity’s computing ability to reason with numbers and mathematical concepts and includes many operational sense means, calculation, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics. Arithmetic also requires that students an intuitive and emotional significance of mathematics, giving them confidence in the prediction or calculation answer.

Many people claim that there is no emotional aspect of mathematics, follow the rules, the correct answer and move on. But most adults have a strong emotional reaction to everything related to school mathematics, unfortunately, these reactions are usually negative!

Intellectually, students with daily calculations (after all, they are rarely without a calculator), but many lack the emotional understanding of that confidence in the prediction and calculate answers deal.

The problem is not directly with the teacher, but more with the way we recruit and train potential teachers. We have a self-test cycle, the students do not have math in school, study and go to university, where they avoid math courses. Sign up in teacher training, where they can or can not attend a course on how to teach mathematics. Although a course on teaching methods for mathematics, they are missing values, if the participant serious gaps in their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. It’s like a course on how to coach basketball, if you have no idea about the game and they involved abilities.

The student, totally unprepared to learn mathematics is now in the teaching profession and continue the cycle.

The dilemma of educational leaders, politicians and society in general is to find out where and how to break the vicious circle.

One possible solution that could solve the problem quickly, a series of courses, both mathematical understanding and teaching methods for specific topics or parts of the syllabus. Upon successful completion of the course participants receive a certificate to say that she provided training in this subject and are qualified to teach this course. Over time, the teachers are fully qualified to teach mathematics would.

This, like most solutions to problems in education, the financial commitment of governments, school boards, faculties of education, and a time commitment of teachers.

At the same time math teacher in tougher conditions for registration to ensure that students in these programs more mathematical insight that will ensure that the methods of mathematics are more relevant and useful.

Until we improve access requirements and qualifications of future mathematics teachers, mathematics is taught badly, too many students are not the computational skills to function in today’s society to reach, and the work of the teachers do not respect is given to worthy.