As a teacher in Mathematics, how can I make my students love the subject and let them learn more out of it?

Question

I have tried different strategies, from games to discoveries. But with so many intervening activities, including technologies where our youths are now offered, they seem less interested to learn more inside school. They also have short memories because if I assess them right after our lesson they seem to understand,but when asked them later,say a day after, everything went puff....and they have to be reminded again.

Answer 1

As an English major, I was never interested in math and science in school. Mostly I attribute this to the way these subjects were taught. The teachers weren't bad, but I never saw any connection to the outside world.

It wasn't until I got into my master's program that I read a book called Fermat's Enigma. Fascinating stuff. I didn't understand the math, but I could finally see how the subject was interesting. math explains the world in a way very similar to poetry (what I was studying). Both are abstractions of concrete objects, as I unerstand it.

I think one way to make this connection is to relate the topic to something in the outside world. When I teach English, I use subjects like terrorism and propaganda so the topic keeps there attention when the subject doesn't.

For math, what interested me (and still does) is how to apply it to the outside world in unique ways. My brother-in-law is an engineer. When we went on a long roadtrip, we broke down the trip into days of the year on a calendar, then figured out the date based on the millage. Not something you could do in an advanced class, but fun nonetheless. Seeing ways to infuse this somewhat rigid system with imagination helped me to appreciate the application a little more.

I wish you luck.

Answer 2

I taught math about 15 years ago.
I was never really good at math until I had to teach it (I had some language skills, and there wasn't enough interpreter assistance at my high school at the time).

I would recommend:

*Tell the students what the activity will ultimately be IF they learn the premise (that is, algebra + arithmetic as applied to a given formula)

*Have the students learn this stuff through rote memorization, equations, and repetition (I know, it's uncomfortable, but repetition really does build a fairly substantial foundation so that the students can retain this info long enough for the exam)

*Do the activity (I used to have teams do the activity, have each member of the team make a presentation -no free rides!- and I awarded bonus points for these projects/presentations which could be redeemed towards propping up substandard grades in subsequent exams).

*My best project was determining wattage (energy output) as calculated from the horsepower generated by the individual students as they ran up a set of stadium stairs.
They then applied this calculation to the amount of energy needed to power household appliances (how long could they operate the appliance, given their own energy output?, etc.)

I hope this helps.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

Hi!

Please understand that I can only answer from my rather limited point of view ... just a couple of things....

One thing that helped me was astrology because the 12 Astrological Houses are divided equally (or not) into a circle .... and the various calculations one must make between the various aspects with which one is presented are mathematical. That, for one, roped me down.

The second thing was travel and the conversions from miles and feet to kilometers.... and the different temperature scales involved calculation, too

The third thing, and these are not all in order of occurence or importance, had to do with my personal finances .....first of all counting my change quickly ... second, my checkbook ... and third, my taxes...

The fourth thing had to do with cooking ... the conversions and the various systems of measure involved .... pounds of sugar to cups of sugar, tablespoons to cup, ounces to quart then to liter...grams .... it has a very important practical usage and although I am not addicted to measures because after a while I do get things, there are times when one must know things.

I too forgot ... but the things that stick are the things I had to work out over a period of time... and those are indelible now. What still gets me are things I can't even remember, but I do know I get stuck!

I think that when it is an important matter you do remember because it involves you... and you do not want to cheat yourself .... It is like learning to read a map. Your reading must be accurate or you will be lost, waste time and gas, and be in a pickle indeed. But learning out of a book with no application to yourself... that is hard for some of us. Some people have wonderful memories and they are lucky.

You see, I think if there is a real reward... something real .... like money... then the attitude is immediately different, because it is not all theoretical.

For example, kids today type far better than they did when I was growing up because computers force them to do it ... they simply learn... I have seen twelve year olds whiz along on the keyboard and I am very happy for them.... it all went in without question.... I think it is the same for math: there must be a REAL incentive..


Cheers!

Answer 4

What I find interesting about math is that it applies to everything.
No matter what they are interested in horticulture, astronomy, music....math is the basis for the structure of the universe.

Math is essential in beauty as well. Symmetry, proportion etc. the Greeks based architecture on what was believed to be mathematical beauty.

I once saw a program that talked about flower petals and beehives etc... and the mathematical proportions etc. Even bees seem to know math. Pretty amazing.

Have a good laugh over the Mars rover crashing because someone got confused about miles vs. kilometer. That was expensive math error.

Make it fun.

Answer 5

I wouldn't fret too much about them forgetting what they learnt in the next lesson, they haven't completely unlearnt it, it's just not fresh in their minds and so they're not sure of themselves. That's what revision classes are for.

I'm not a teacher but my suggestion to you would be to try to learn what kind of activities they are doing that you say are intervening and distracting them... then try to develop mathematical problems around them. For example if they are really into football, maybe introduce some sort of project around that - statistics of number of goals per game in a season or maybe even ball trajectories etc. I don't know what level you are teaching. Anyone interested in comeputer games may be interested in maths involved in probabilities (like a card game or something)

Hope that helps. I was encouraged to learn maths at school when I could see how it relates to real life situations and to things that I am interested in rather than just staring at algebra in a text book.

Answer 6

Your own enthusiasm for a subject will carry ovver to the students. If they see you having fun doing the math then they will be more open to doing the math. Use a sense of humor.

Answer 7

Be patient when they dont understand something. Not everyone is good at math. I had an impatient math teacher in high school embarass me in class all the time. I still hate math.

Answer 8

Math is an interesting problem. Obviously very few people take a real interest in it, and I believe that some people are "wired" for it and some aren't.

Answer 9

Try doing things like practical application.