What if there was a way to learn math without doing much, or no homework, and still outperform other students in a class? Would that change children’s attitudes towards math?
One may wonder how it is possible for students to learn without any homework. Many are already doing poorly in math as it is, even with homework, so how can they possibly do better without?
We all know how tricky math can be. If the basics are there everything is fine but learning math can turn into a nightmare for the kid who is lagging. If nothing is done to remedy the situation, things can get out of hand fast to the point of no return.
Because of new methods of teaching, parents can find it quite challenging to help their children as they shift from grade to grade. Is there any way that math could be taught that makes it easier for both parents and students?
A study conducted by a group of teachers and academics has shown that students subjected to watch a series of worked solutions prior to answering questions were more able to answer similar questions on their own without any help. The solutions, however, were step by step, detailed (moving numbers across the screen) instructions of how to get to the answer rather than just the conventional (static) step by step worked solutions.
All students must do is watch and learn. Although math is meant to be learnt through practice ― homework ― many students wished there were new methods of learning that would spare them the grueling and boring time they are expected to spend doing homework and still do well in math.
Everyone is blessed with a photographic memory; some more than others. It is a known fact that when the brain is exposed to an event several times, it is bound to capture and record additional details of that event if viewed again and again until they automatically recall the next sequence of the video.
Similarly, when subjects are given to watch a solution several times, they come to memorize it during the process. When given a similar problem they would have no difficulty solving it. And because we all learn by repetition, the student would use the information learnt, apply it to the problem and automatically solve it.
Well, this method is helping children increase their understanding of math and improve their marks overall without having to do much homework. Students learning using this method can solve their math problems on their own nine times out of ten.
Not only that, but students are also found to become eager to solve more problems as their confidence increases. This process can be repeated for all topics in math with similar results, improving the overall math marks in a relatively short period of time.
Richard Pidial is an experienced teacher, co-founder of schrool.com a math learning site that teaches math with a twist.