Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
Exhibition aims at making teaching of Maths fun
Education Officer from the National Science Centre, New Delhi,
Mr Bharat Srivastava demonstrates to Harmony Secondary school teacher Sharon Williams how to transform the rectangle back into a circle.
Also in photo is subject specialist Wendella Roberts.
Aimed at complementing teachers’ approach to administering Mathematics in a fun way, several teachers have been exposed to a creative approach to Mathematics application in the classroom.
The application came during recent workshops held at the National Archives, Homestretch Avenue.
Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, ongoing workshops have allowed instructors to enlighten teachers in ways to make the subject more fascinating for students.
This is according to a statement issued by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), which revealed that the approach being used at the workshops relies on simple explanations relating to everyday applications, number tricks and the use of teaching aids.
The workshops are facilitated by Education Officer of the National Science Centre, New Delhi, Mr Bharat Srivastava, and Educator Mr. Madan Gopal of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) of India. They are supported by the Guyana Learning Channel and NCERD.
Participants at the first workshop, which was held in August, were exposed to sessions with Gopal who explained that by making numbers fun, students would be more inclined to love Mathematics.
He outlined steps to computation fluency using several Mathematical examples. He pointed out that there were three aspects that made Mathematics interesting. These included recalling the facts, accuracy of recalling the facts and applying the methods and strategies to number problems.
He added that it is important for students to know the sense of a number, that is, to be able to relate numbers to concepts that they encounter in everyday life.
Gopal said, too, that breaking down difficult numbers can also let students have fun while computing. Additionally, doing operations in parts and displaying clever tricks with zeros and fives can help make Mathematics easier and enjoyable, he said.
Using magic numbers similar to Sudoku can be captivating for students who would be more inclined to want to learn more about the subject, he offered.
He demonstrated that numbers that are less than nine are easy to divide without using multiplication tables.
Srivastava focused on helping teachers create a number of easy, low-cost teaching aids, demonstrating Pythagoras theorem and other core Mathematics concepts for students to easily identify and understand.
The teaching aids created by the teachers of the workshops have since been mounted at the National Archives.
Teachers will be taking them to their classrooms when the exhibition ends on September 30, 2012, while the Guyana Learning Channel is creating a television programme on the creation of the teaching aids for all teachers to benefit from the experience.
The first workshop which was a hit with teachers started on August 28, last, and concluded two days later. Similar workshops have since been planned for Mathematics teachers during this month, the NCERD statement said.
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