POSSIBLE IMPLICATION FOR MATHEMATICS TEACHERS USING MENTAL MATH PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES
Teachers are masters of their subject so they can easily teach in school because they have learned so much. Depending on their topics, there are teachers who inherently strong in memorization and things that they taught to school and university is within their mind, they may even teach without the use of book references. Teachers are the most valuable sources of knowledge in school and in our society and this is a universally accepted principle. However in the area of computation and mathematics subjects, there are possible implications and considerations that they need to take before using certain standard and teaching techniques which include teaching mental mathematics to children through elementary up to the college levels.
Basically teachers have already perfected their craft and mentally they are prepared and there will be no problem on their part teaching mental mathematics may even be an advantage for most teachers since they do not need to write and analyze most figures but usually the one who are affected will be mostly their students. Possible implications would be, students will experience more difficulty in computation and analysis since they have not seen most of the computation and that they have not written such numbers but they will be force to use their mind from such variables. Mental mathematics may be good to highly gifted students but still this is not a good teaching technique especially among the very young students in elementary since their brain is not susceptible to adopt a higher pattern of thinking analysis.
Mental Mathematics techniques is an advance learning tools to High School and College students but not necessarily in elementary since there are also weak students in this bracket and they may not also perform well using mental mathematics. They must have exhibited mental extraordinary powers in order to understand such skills; in response most average students can only perform a limited task and for the teachers, frustration may set it as an implication to their teaching pattern. Another disadvantages to the teachers is the possibility of erroneous methodology, for whatever reasons and no matter how good a teacher maybe, most probably they may gone wrong in the mind of the students. Teachers may also confuse the students and themselves upon harder math computation and longer discussion.
Basically grade school pupils may have a possibility to easily understand common mental mathematics using four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division but they are less likely to perform well using larger number and other mathematical operations. This is not to say that mental mathematics should not be taught in class, it’s just that the implication is more likely to be negative. If teachers have to use the mental mathematics technique in a primary school they must make sure that they started in basic operation and they should not limit their teachings in mental computation but a combination of written and mental pattern until the students are prepared to accept the idea of a mental math formulation and technique.
Another possible threat that a teacher may face in this technique is the poor performance during the start of the class since children cannot comprehend from such advance tasks. If only students have learned to master the basic only then they can perform such exercises but basically the combination of basic teaching mathematics methodology and mental mathematics are likely found to be effective but since primary grade school students need more attention, thus explicit written examples are required. For example if the student does not know basic multiplication how hard would it be for them to understand mental mathematics?
In most cases mental mathematics should be taught in a higher primary level, they can easily understand such needs to adjust as they advance in their higher year. There are also various recommended techniques if such school or institution would like to use mental mathematics as their learning system. Please note that the following suggestion have been reviewed to be effective; Drill Repetition and Review – this is just a fundamental mathematics memorization and practices that the student can recite in front of the class. This can be their head-start. Number Sequencing Techniques – this should be taught by teachers using mental math. The process requires small numbers by breaking short activities from the start until the students can reach out, gradually teachers can add a higher number if children do learn this basic.
Time control not time limit – students who are solving math problems using mental technique should be given extra time from the start so that they will not be constraint to erroneous restriction and computation analysis, considering their young brittle mind. Peer Coaching – let the student team up and take a practice by group. Visualization and Mastery – students can associate numbers in their imagination in some cases in their favorite food, candies and toys so let them be. Role Modeling Interpretation – choose one good student to demonstrate mental activity practices through question and answer if they can perform well they can somehow encourage other children to do the same.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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