Way for Stimulating and Maintaing Interest in Learning in Mathematics

7/24/2019 Way for Stimulating and Maintaing Interest in Learning in Mathematics

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SSIGNMENT

TOPIC:

WAY FOR STIMULATING AND MAINTAING

INTEREST IN LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS

SUBMITTED TO, SUBMITTED BY,SAMEERA MISS SANGEETHA S

FMTC PALLIMUKKU B.Ed Mathematics


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WAY FOR STIMULATING AND MAINTAING INTEREST IN

LEARNING IN MATHEMATICSIt is well known fact that students will work most diligently

and effectively at task in which they are genuinely interested. Therefore, one of the

important tasks of the teacher of mathematics is to create and maintain interest among

his students. Perhaps, it is one of the most difficult problems encountered by the

teachers of mathematics.

The students will show greater enthusiasm for the work

for which they are highly motivated. Thus the motivation has two aspects: (1) creating

or arousing interest (2) maintain the interest even after the novelty of the work fadesaway.

Interests are motives which serve as important influences in

producing both activities and attitudes that are most favourable for learning. A strong

interest in mathematics tends to produce a positive attitude towards mathematics and

such an attitude would in turn enhance the desire to learn mathematics in a more

productive way. Thus the development and maintenance of interest in mathematics

becomes an important concern of the mathematics teacher.

How to Develop and Maintain Interest in Mathematics?

A mathematics teacher should be well versed with the means and techniques of

arousing and stimulating interest in mathematics. Some of the devices are discussed

below. However, a teacher can always devise techniques which are most appropriate for

his own students.

Element of novelty:Students become interested in things which are new and

exciting. Though the possession of background information related to the new

work tends to intensify the interest, novelty is more compelling than familiarity.The mathematics learning should arouse the curiosity of the students; should

satisfy their thirst for knowledge and should help in appreciating the beauty of

mathematics. The teacher has to arrange the mathematics activities in a manner

most suitable for the students level of understanding.

Ensuring students understanding: Inability to understand makes the students

restless and listless leading to general loss of interest. Students tend to remain


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interested in those things which they understand well and which they can do

most successfully. A reasonable degree of competence should be ensured keeping

in mind the nature of the content presented and the capacity of the students to

understand.

Intellectual challenge: The mathematical work presented should not be toosimple. It should present a continual intellectual challenge to the students, devoid

of drudgery and boredom. This is possible by organizing the mathematical

activities at a level of difficulty appropriate to the intellectual maturity of the

student.

Improving problem-solving ability: Genuine interest in mathematics probably

depends upon the problem solving aspect of the subject. Mathematics teaching

presents the students with an abundance of problems every day. These problems

equip the students with modes of thought and techniques which enable them to

solve the problems successfully. Each successful solution provides the studentwith a sense of achievement, a feeling of satisfaction and joy. This could act as a

driving force to seek similar experiences, pursuing task of the same kind.

Therefore, the mathematics teacher should plan problems with care and should

make sure that the students are able to solve them successfully so that the

student gets the positive reinforcement to proceed further.

Use of incentives:Incentives such as marks, rewards of various kinds may serve to

build motives or inner drives and thus promote genuine interest in mathematics.

However, use of incentives does not guarantee this. They should not be used

indiscriminately or thoughtlessly. Unless used judiciously, they can do more harmthan good. The success of the use of such devices depends largely upon the kinds

of incentives used and the way in which they are used. A teacher can make use of

devices such as mathematical games and contests, tricks, puzzles, and other

recreations, multisensory aids, projects, information about the application,

values, and utility of mathematics, historical notes on mathematics etc. as

incentives.

Emphasising the practical application of mathematics:The practical application of

mathematics in daily life situations and real situations provides an important

means of stimulating Interest. Many topics that the students learn in high schoolmathematics have immediate relevance for solving problems that arise in daily

life. For example, while teaching topics such as simple interest, compound

interest, recurring deposit, discount, percentage, stokes and shares, direct and

indirect variations, mensuration etc., the teachers should not fail to stress their

importance from this point of view. The mathematical principles help the


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students in understanding and interpreting loss of nature and environment. This

knowledge also could sustain the interest of the students.

Emphasising the use of mathematics in the study of other subjects: In one way or

another mathematics forms the basis for the study of many of the school subjects

as well as pursuing higher education in many professional courses such asEngineering, Genetics, Computer science, Information Technology, Bio-

informatics and so on. The application of mathematics is not limited to physical

sciences, but has important bearing upon the biological and social sciences as

well. The teacher should make use of this relationship of mathematics with other

subjects in arousing the interest of the students in the study of mathematics. This

can be achieved by selecting relevance problems and examples from other

subjects while teaching related topics in mathematics.

Use of audiovisual aids and practical work: Mathematics teaching can be made

more interesting through a variety of sensory experiences than through mere talkand chalk method. The use of audiovisual aids provides a variety of sensory

experiences which will help in making abstract mathematical concepts concrete

and meaningful. Moreover, it facilitates better understanding of the subject and

thereby makes it more interesting. It is desirable to use experiments and

laboratory work to verify mathematical truths and discover mathematical laws

and principles. It arouses the intellectual curiosity of the students and helps to

maintain interest in the subject.

Using mathematics for fun and recreation: Mathematics provides enough

opportunities for fun and recreation. This can be used as an effective means ofstimulating interest in mathematics. Mathematical games and puzzles serves as

interesting setting for mathematical principles But care should be taken to see

that they do not present distorted ideas of the nature of mathematics.

Mathematics clubs are also forums where interesting learning can take place

through fun filled activities.

References to historical developments of mathematical concepts:The teacher can

use historical anecdotes relating to the development of mathematical concepts

and ideas as a device for stimulating interest among the students. The life history

of mathematician, the painstaking efforts taken by the mathematician to discovermathematical facts, and the patience and perseverance exhibited by the

mathematician in their pursuit for search for mathematical truth can be appealing

for the students to pursue their mathematical learning interest and enthusiasm. A

resourceful teacher can think of many more such devices which are specially

suitable for the students who he teaches. However, selection of the devices


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should be guided by the level of achievement, the intellectual maturity of the

students as well as attitude and aptitude of the student. Above all, the teacher

himself should be highly motivated to teach mathematics with a high level

interest in the subject. Only such teachers could inculcate interest in the students

and enthuse them to learn.

Arranging for field wok and field trip:Field work and field trips are two important

techniques for stimulating interest. Both field work and field trip initiate the

students to the real world and provide first hand experiences in the practical

application of mathematics learning. A teacher, wherever possible, could make

use of techniques for arousing interest in mathematics.

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Way for Stimulating and Maintaing Interest in Learning in Mathematics