Teaching Mathematics as a Language (71809)
Session Chair: Angela Mary Nicol
Thursday, 21 September 2023 14:55
Session: Session 3
Room: Nova Icaria
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
Many students cope quite well with learning the concepts of Mathematics. However, as a teacher I have found many who struggle, especially among those who prefer the Humanities subjects and tend towards a humanities mindset (Melina, 2011). I have taught Languages, Humanities, and Mathematics for many years and see a crossover rather than a separation between methods used in these subjects. Lack of confidence with Mathematics is one of the biggest stumbling blocks experienced by students (Perdue, 2015). This may have been established in a classroom where the student wasn’t achieving good results, didn’t understand the concepts being taught, and because of the sequential nature of Mathematics, gaps formed in the knowledge acquired (Kiss and Vukovic, 2017). Fear of getting the wrong answer will often lead to the claim “I’m no good at Maths” or “I hate Maths!” (Beilock and Willingham, 2014). This can quickly develop into Maths anxiety, as a snowballing effect takes place. By going back through basic skills and building on them, like learning a language, I have had success with students. I show them that Mathematics is a language, a perfect language, with rules you can learn and apply. My research followed a sample of students over 6 years, mapping their progress through school. It is also based on empirical evidence gathered from trialling eclectic methods in the mathematics classroom, rather than using traditional methods for teaching this subject in Secondary School. This action research project enabled me to conduct research while approaching learning problems.
Authors:
Angela Mary Nicol, All Saints' College, Australia
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Angela Mary Nicol is a School Administrator at All Saints' College in Australia
See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule
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