Through this assignment, I was able to obtain the perspectives on mathematics education from both the students and the teachers. Not only was it interesting to refresh my memories of high school years, but it also allowed me to listen to some of the teachers’ opinions and learn from them. In addition, it was very interesting to listen to other groups’ presentations and see how each student and teacher has different views and opinions.
One particular response from the students that caught my attention was that they are just worried about getting good grades on the provincial exams and want to learn formulas and rules, rather than having group activities and having fun in mathematics. By reading Skemp’s article, we now understand how important it is to reinforce the students to have relational understandings and develop problem solving skills. However, when students are not motivated to learn, it would be extremely difficult to try teaching them something beyond the formula. Thus, it becomes apparent that the efforts to motivate students to learn problem solving skills have to come in from all levels of education, including the education system.
In addition, I was glad to acquire some teaching tips through the teachers’ interviews. One point that was mentioned the most was the importance of having the patience with the students. Each student has different needs and different pace of learning. Thus, having the patience with the students is the one of the most important aspects that the teachers should have. Another thing that I thought very useful was how one teacher came up with a way to assign homework for her students. She assigned homework to everyone but only the students who did not pass the quiz needed to hand in their homework. I think this is a very effective way to reinforce hard working habits in students, while making them to take responsibilities for their own actions.
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