Many students struggle with the concepts taught in Math. Teachers must remember that students won't be able to move on to the more concrete concepts until the student has learned the basic skills. Math is really a right or wrong answer (Very different from an English, Politics, or a History course, where students can persuade the teacher in understanding their point of view). This isn't what Math is about, there are no essays or debates, Math is all about numbers and calculations. There is a concrete answer. Even though there is only one answer, there are MANY ways of finding the same answer. There are many formulae teachers use to get to a single answer. Exploring all of these methods is an obvious benefit to the students. For all the teachers out there, try to make Math fun. Students have such a negative perspective of this subject, but really it isn't all that bad, once they understand the appropriate methods they can use.
Minakshi Sharma
You make some really valid points, Minakshi. One thing I feel that is worth mentioning, and is something that I discussed in my own post, is that it is very important to also stress how math is applicable to the real world. If students don’t see the point of learning something (eg. “Why would I want to just use some formula to find an answer?”) they will become disengaged in class and reluctant to learn the material.
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