Mathematical Difficulties
Parents and Students, I understand that math is one of the difficult subjects in school to understand. Parents, comment on what was your most difficult math subject to understand and how could it of been presented better? Students, comment what you believe will be your hardest topic in math to understand and what ways could I present to make it easier for you to understand?
As a parent, my most difficult math subject for me to learn in school was long division. I believe this was because of the many steps it took to accomplish the problem. I got lost toward the middle of the problem and couldn't track where to line everything up. I think if it was taught in a different way it would of helped me learn it better. Instead of just telling me here is where you put the number, explain as you go about why I am lining the numbers underneath. Using manipulatives would of helped me or teaching me another way, such as the beans in the pot strategy. As a student, I worry about learning all my facts. To make it easier, I think teaching tricks and hints, and maybe singing song would to help me memorize them better.
ReplyDeleteAs a student in high school, the hardest topic I ever encountered in math was series in BC calculus. Now as a teacher, I have the privilege to teach this and appreciate my students' effort, knowing this takes time and practice. I believe that it is one of the greatest attributes a teacher can have, empathy. It is our responsibility to evaluate our students, but we should do it accordingly, preparing students well and allowing them to practice to demonstrate understanding before summative assessment.
ReplyDeleteSeries were and still are one of my weakest concepts to understand also! Glad to know a fellow mathematician feels my pain.
DeleteAs a parent, when I was in school I really struggled with retaining trigonometry. Although I managed to get a decent grade in the class, I remembered little of it when I got to physics. Back then, all of the instruction was just solving problems. I think it would be great to find everyday examples of trigonometry so that students can relate to the subject and maybe carry some of it forward.
ReplyDeleteTrigonometry is one of those difficult concepts to understand and to teach to students also. Basically a complete concept with letters and not numbers. Every year when I tutor someone, one of the students ask what exactly are sin, cosine, and tangent, and I stumble a little explaining it myself!
DeleteI am a Physical and Social Scientist and I think the most important math skill I learned was Statistics. Understanding Statistics and Using Statistics is instrumental in implementing and understanding any type of research. Our society is structured in a way that research and outcomes determines our reality on every level, so I think that some form of basic statistical analysis should be introduced before college. Earlier introduction, using dice and possible outcomes to explain random variability would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be really honest, in high school I loathed math and the thought of equations and math word problems still make me cringe. I really appreciate you Chalandra, because I couldn't teach your subject for one week. Algebra and geometry were easy, but trigonometry is another story. With my life on the line, I could not explain sin, cos, or tan to anyone. When I got to my trigonometry class, I decided to buckle down with English and grammar to help me avoid any further math. I got a B in the class, but feel like my high school trig teacher may have been teaching the material just a little faster than we could grasp it.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, my most difficult topic in mathematics was Calculus. I love math, but I always had difficulty getting through it. I think that Calculus can be better presented by splitting up the lessons. My teacher would cram so much into a lesson, and I would get confused when I did my homework later. Also, I think that using games would help present the material better. If teachers are using active methods of learning it helps students learn it better.
ReplyDeleteCalculus was extremely fast in my opinion also. It's a completely new topic for us in math, but they teach it as if we should already have a background in the subject for some reason. I barely made it through all my classes and to this day can't explain completely the concept of finding a derivative the long way. I just remember the short way now.
DeleteHonestly, I really struggled and still do struggle with math. Numbers and myself have a love/hate relationship. I truly wish I understood them better. However, as a high school student, I really struggled with Geometry. Visual aids did not help me, because I struggled understanding the equation in relation to the visual aid. I am not sure how or what would have helped me, to be honest.
ReplyDelete