Mathematics has been taught predominantly at the undergraduate level and all other levels below as just a set of rules and procedures. Though this way of teaching Mathematics had its value in the past in performing specific calculations, it did not lead to students understanding the Language so that they will be able to use it to innovate. In fact, it is arguable that only about 10% of students show mastery in Mathematics at the completion of high school. Most students either master or show high levels of proficiency in their first SPEAKING Language and this is because they learn concepts and not procedures only. Only after Understanding the concept behind something, can you expect someone to be able to apply it successfully; especially in an innovative way. I will certainly appreciate your perspective on this topic.
Teaching math as a language is an interesting concept but there also needs to be a practical application to the "language". An example although simple, when I was working with adult basic education and GED prep, there was an instructor who taught fractions using measuring cups and spoons and a recipe that was to be doubled, tripled, etc. The students had to do the math to increase the recipe, the practical application!
Another example, I worked with a middle school youth that had to do percentages. The practical application question posed was "does your family like to go out to eat?" We talked about the restaurant and whether there were beverages, appetizers, main course, sides, desserts, etc. We added the costs for the items and then discussed how much to tip based on service, the percentages!
For people that have math anxiety, etc. they need a way to apply the information.
There is a real problem with math teaching. Students try to remember rules and procedures, and solve by following these step-by-step with little understanding. This happens all the way even in calculus and differential equations.
But I am not sure if teaching math as language is the key to develop student understand and address this issue.
The key is to teach math from a practical point of view with real world examples and relevance. At lower level, what Doris Yates stated is a good way. You can teach complete arithmetic and even Algebra using this approach.
Mariappan Jawaharlal Doris Yates , Thank you for your response. teaching math as a language will require it to be taught from a practical perspective. that is the only way it can be done. Take for example; I've searched day and night trying to find the underlying concept that unites every concept in Mathematics. As you know, the fundamental concepts in Mathematics is the concept of addition and subtraction. These concepts are applied in every other aspect of math. However, the idea behind addition and subtraction is misrepresented very frequently. When I did my deep dive, I discovered that in order for things to be added or subtracted, they needed to be of the same size, shape and type; which, when elements have all of those similar characteristic I call them identical. On the other hand, some teachers would use the key word "like terms" without explaining what it takes for elements to be considered as like. By understanding the concept behind identical or like terms, students would then be able to use this to justify fractions, algebra, whole numbers and decimals addition and subtraction etc. When students learn the meaning of the Arithmetic symbols; for example multiplication means 'sets of'. By knowing this the when the student see an expression such as 2+3*4 and is asked to simplify it, they will just read it as: "two identical elements joined to three sets of four identical elements." Without knowing any rule or procedure such as BOMDAS etc. By just reading the expression, they know that they are adding 2 to 3 sets of 4 and not the other way around. by learning math as a language, students would see writing an equation or an expression as a way to summarize long statements and not a boring and meaningless thing that their teachers want them to do. Enough said for now..
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Mathematics