The issue is we only teach one method for approaching Maths so if you don’t get it, tough.
In primary and secondary school I always struggled with Maths. During university I spent most of my energy reverse engineering the maths lessons so I could understand them.
Years later my sister was struggling with her Maths GCSE, I spent one evening explaining how I solve each type of problem. She went from a projected D to getting an A.
I was explaining this to an ex maths teacher who started asking how I approached things. Apparently I used the Indian method for one type of problem, the asian for anouther, etc…
The idea a student was struggling with one way of solving the problem and teaching them alternative methods never occurred because it was “outside the curriculum”.
The idea a student was struggling with one way of solving the problem and teaching them alternative methods never occurred because it was “outside the curriculum”.
It’s a tough balance of being ‘outside the curriculum’ vs ‘they don’t have time’. There’s lot of methods of doing most things in maths. Teachers usually will be trying to take an evidence-based approach of which method is supposedly the most effective for the most people (but unfortunately won’t be the most effective for everyone. And then with the amount stuffed into our school curriculum, there just isn’t time to cover the alternate methods
The issue is we only teach one method for approaching Maths so if you don’t get it, tough.
In primary and secondary school I always struggled with Maths. During university I spent most of my energy reverse engineering the maths lessons so I could understand them.
Years later my sister was struggling with her Maths GCSE, I spent one evening explaining how I solve each type of problem. She went from a projected D to getting an A.
I was explaining this to an ex maths teacher who started asking how I approached things. Apparently I used the Indian method for one type of problem, the asian for anouther, etc…
The idea a student was struggling with one way of solving the problem and teaching them alternative methods never occurred because it was “outside the curriculum”.
These days I quite like Maths puzzles.
It’s a tough balance of being ‘outside the curriculum’ vs ‘they don’t have time’. There’s lot of methods of doing most things in maths. Teachers usually will be trying to take an evidence-based approach of which method is supposedly the most effective for the most people (but unfortunately won’t be the most effective for everyone. And then with the amount stuffed into our school curriculum, there just isn’t time to cover the alternate methods