Reflection by Descartes

The tutorials have been well structured to induce thinking and understanding. Mr Tan, our tutor, rigorous reiterations have provided a deeper insight into concepts otherwise taken at surface level. Various avenues to tackle a problem were addressed and discussed. All these add on to a greater appreciation for the works we will be teaching and also cater to a meaningful learning experience.

Having said that, the meaningful learning experience seems to be what we are gaining and time will not be on our side for it to be transferred meaningfully. It cannot be denied that such in depth discussions will be done at the expense of completing the syllabus. Of course, students will achieve a holistic meaning to what they will be learning but how much can they apply? Examinations have become almost predictable. Most students are comfortable with practice makes perfect. Doing sums from ten year series or whatever practice books they can lay their hands on over and over again will over time help them to recognize what a problem wants without knowing what the underlying meaning to the problem. Just like some Chinese students from China who speak little or no English can recognize the process of getting the answer to a problem just by identifying the key words in the question. So to say, rote learning does have its merits. Afterall, most of us were trained for the exams.

The problem is all about igniting the learning process of the people of today’s generation.

Back on to the lessons reviews, it had been an interesting one with the algebraic discs. Algebraic discs used in class are great hands on approach. But it can only serve that much. The principles in using it contradict how we were taught. So much in the sense that we ourselves are forced to conform to another method of learning altogether.

The ratio and proportion activity was a good startup especially in garnering students’ interests in the topic itself. The discussions brought along by it showed how similar problems can be represented differently. Fibonacci Theorem and the relation to the golden ratio were further explored with a very engaging video.

Friday’s lesson on percentages and indices was like playing mind games with us. But of course the takeaways are that diagnostic test for topic on percentages proves to be a great introduction for lessons to get students thinking and for indices, its better not to have too complicated thoughts. Definition can only be verified not proved.

Anyway, there are various math forums online that reach out to the bigger community. Just try googling. Not forgetting Youtube has various proving of many formulas such as in the topic of mensuration.Yes, today’s IT age has made information so readily available that teachers have to keep up with the times and constantly think out of the box to sustain the attention of the Y-generation. This is definitely a good platform for relevant discussions and resources to be compiled. Thank You for the initiative and we hope to make this blog a success!