1. Teaching Mathematics Effectively to Primary Students in Developing Countries : Insights from Neuroscience and Psychology of Mathematics
- Author
-
Soendergaard, Bettina Dahl and Cachaper, Cecile
- Subjects
MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOKS ,NATIONAL ASSESSMENT ,TEACHING MATERIALS ,UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ,LEARNING OUTCOMES ,ADVANCED STUDENTS ,ADULT STUDENTS ,BILINGUALISM ,EXAMS ,PRIMARY GRADE ,CLASSROOM ,MATHEMATICS ,KNOWLEDGE BASE ,YOUNG PEOPLE ,SOCIAL STUDIES ,LEARNING THEORIES ,CURRICULA ,ENROLLMENT RATES ,SPEECH ,UNIVERSITY LEVEL ,SKILL DEVELOPMENT ,REASONING ,LEARNING DISABILITIES ,SUBJECT MATTER ,METAMEMORY ,INTERVENTIONS ,LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ,LEARNERS ,READING ,BASIC SKILLS ,WORKBOOKS ,TEACHERS ,COMPETENCIES ,CREATIVITY ,STUDENTS LEARNING ,SUBJECT AREAS ,STUDENT ATTITUDES ,LEARNING PROGRAMS ,ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ,HOMEWORK ,COGNITIVE SKILLS ,TEACHER ,PLAYING ,STUDENT PROGRESS ,PRIMARY STUDENTS ,FORMAL SCHOOLING ,LESSON PLANNING ,CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ,METACOGNITION ,RECOGNITION ,PROFESSIONAL GROWTH ,SCHOOL CURRICULUM ,PRIMARY TEACHING ,YOUNG CHILDREN ,COGNITIVE PROCESSES ,APTITUDE ,ANALOGICAL REASONING ,INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY ,INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ,LONG TERM MEMORY ,GROSS ENROLLMENT ,LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION ,INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ,TEXTBOOKS ,BELIEFS ,EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,CURRICULAR REFORMS ,ELEMENTS ,PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE ,TEACHER EXPECTATIONS ,TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS ,COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ,EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ,STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ,CONFORMITY ,TUTORING ,MENTAL REPRESENTATION ,PROBLEM SOLVING ,TEACHER EDUCATION ,GER ,NUTRITION ,RESEARCHERS ,TEACHING PROCESS ,ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ,NORMAL TEACHING ,MOTHER TONGUE ,INSTRUCTION ,PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS ,GROSS ENROLLMENT RATES ,OLD STUDENTS ,CLASSROOM SIZE ,STUDENT LEARNING ,ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ,ENROLLMENT RATIO ,MATHEMATICS TEACHERS ,COOPERATIVE LEARNING ,LEARNING PRACTICES ,PERCEPTION ,PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ,PRIMARY TEACHERS ,ATTENTION ,QUALITY OF TEACHING ,COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT ,STUDENT OUTCOMES ,INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS ,MATHEMATICS EDUCATION ,EARLY GRADES ,NER ,LEADERSHIP ,GENDER ,INTEGRATED LEARNING SYSTEMS ,LEARNING ACTIVITIES ,TEACHING METHOD ,TUTORS ,CHILDHOOD ,GRADE LEVELS ,INFANTS ,ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS ,EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES ,EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ,MATH TEXTBOOKS ,LEARNING PROCESS ,TEST SCORES ,RETENTION ,EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES ,LEARNING STYLES ,COGNITIVE SCIENCE ,LEARNING PROCESSES ,COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES ,SUBJECTS ,EDUCATORS ,CURRICULUM ,HOURS OF INSTRUCTION ,PRIMARY GRADES ,GIRLS ,KINDERGARTEN ,CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE ,ROTE LEARNING ,DISSERTATIONS ,LEARNING RESULTS ,STUDENT PERFORMANCE ,CBI ,PRIMARY EDUCATION ,MINISTRY OF EDUCATION ,CRITICAL THINKING ,LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ,SCHOOLS ,PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ,ACHIEVEMENT SCORES ,ACHIEVEMENT IN SCHOOL ,TEACHER TRAINING ,MATHEMATICS SKILLS ,ABILITY LEVELS ,DECISION MAKING ,LEARNING GROUPS ,ACHIEVEMENT TESTS ,CLASSROOMS ,PROFICIENCY ,COMPETENCE ,QUALITY OF LEARNING ,STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES ,CONTROL GROUPS ,TEACHING PROGRAMS ,LET ,ARITHMETIC ,COGNITIVE RESEARCH ,CLASSROOM TEACHERS ,LITERATURE ,MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION ,RESEARCH FINDINGS ,PEDAGOGY ,EARLY INTERVENTION ,DIRECT INSTRUCTION ,EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE ,FORMAL TEACHING ,TEACHING METHODS ,WORKING MEMORY ,INCIDENTAL LEARNING ,BILINGUAL PROGRAMS ,MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM ,PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS ,EDUCATION PROGRAMS ,MATHEMATICS STUDENTS ,ComputingMilieux_GENERAL ,FORMAL EDUCATION ,QUALITY TEACHING ,ACHIEVEMENTS ,TEACHER KNOWLEDGE ,LEARNING DIFFICULTIES ,NET ENROLLMENT ,TEACHING PRACTICE ,TEACHING ,LEARNING ,PRIMARY SCHOOLS ,MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS ,ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ,INSTRUCTIONAL TIME ,INTUITION ,TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS ,PRIMARY SCHOOL ,EFFECTIVE TEACHING ,BILINGUAL EDUCATION ,PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAMS ,MOTIVATION ,RECALL ,FIRST GRADE ,LEARNING MATHEMATICS ,CLASS SIZE ,END OF GRADE ,LEARNING METHODS ,GIFTED STUDENTS ,INSTRUCTIONAL EFFICIENCY ,NET ENROLLMENT RATIO ,MATH ACHIEVEMENT - Abstract
This paper uses research from neuroscience and the psychology of mathematics to arrive at useful recommendations for teaching mathematics at primary level to poor students in developing countries. The enrollment rates of the poorer students have improved tremendously in the last decade. And the global Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) has improved since 2001 from 83.2 percent to 90-95 percent except in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Making teaching of math and other subjects efficient for the poor in developing countries is a great challenge, particularly in south Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Many developing countries have explored new means of teaching math and other subjects. Mongolia changed its mathematics education, aiming to build a new set of priorities and practices, given the abandonment of earlier traditions. Similar to international trends of the time, South Africa in the 1990s extensively applied the constructivist learning philosophy which relied on exploration and discovery, with little emphasis on memorization, drill, In conformity with a belief that teachers could develop their own learning programs, there was virtual absence of a national or provincial syllabus or textbooks. Students were expected to develop their own methods for arithmetic operations, but most found it impossible to progress on their own from counting to actual calculating. This study integrates pertinent research from neuroscience and the psychology of mathematics to arrive at recommendations for curricular and efficient means of mathematics instruction particularly for developing countries and poor students at primary level. Specifically, the latest research in neuroscience, cognitive science, and discussions of national benchmarks for primary school mathematics learning, form the basis of our recommendations. These recommendations have a reasonable chance of working in the situational contexts of developing countries, with their traditions and resources.
- Published
- 2008