Math Made Easy: ‘Hands-on activity helps grasp concepts’

We have all studied Math sometime or the other in our lives. Even then, we had hoped that the teachers would use fun ways to teach the subject that many students found difficult to comprehend. This was more so when the students went from primary to middle school and or middle to senior school. Topics like Polynomials, Coordinate Geometry, and Introduction to Euclid’s Geometry went over most of our heads, and felt as if an alien had landed on our desks.

But the good part is that over the years, there have been several changes in the teaching methodology, especially in Math; a subject that several children want to run away from. Over the years, teachers across India particularly at Apeejay Schools have devised several techniques to make Math easy to understand.

Teachers like Ms Rakhi Roy Chaudhury, TGT Math, Apeejay School, Kharghar have adapted learning mathematics through dance; she used hand tutting to teach basic Math concepts. A new learning technique that the teacher has adopted is using different activities to make students understand Math.

Math requires hands-on activity to grasp the concepts. Projects help students develop logical reasoning. And unless and until the students understand the concepts and how to use them in real-world experience, they are going to forget it

–MS Rakhi Roy Chaudhury, PGT Maths, Apeejay School, Kharghar

Lippan Art to the rescue

“This is a system that all the Math teachers have decided to use to make the subject interesting and hence foster learning among students. This will help all the class sections to have a uniform learning experience. Different topics have been taught using activities like Lippan art,” Ms Rakhi explained.

Warli art & Math

She said that the mirrors used in the artwork helped students understand Quadrilaterals. “We told the students to use these mirrors – quadrilaterals – to make designs. In class VII, we taught students how to make Warli art so that they could learn different shapes. In class VI, we asked the students to use circles and their parts to make wall hangings,” Ms Rakhi said.

In class IX, the students were encouraged to make a spiral to learn square roots on different numbers. The idea was to teach students how to represent the square root of a number on the number line. But to make the learning fun, the children were asked to make it in a spiral format.

These projects and activities that the students have done in school in Math will enhance a student’s critical thinking, analytical, and logical thinking. “It will also build problem-solving skills in them. Math requires hands-on activity to grasp the concepts. These projects will help students develop logical reasoning. And unless and until the students understand the concepts clearly and how to use them in real-world experience, they are going to forget it,” Ms Rakhi said.

She said that given that the Board exam papers in classes X and XII are analytical, it is necessary to teach Math along with concepts that revolve around logical reasoning and critical thinking. “When we start young and introduce such activities to teach Math, the student will start using his/her brain. A child will not make, for instance, a wall hanging that is crooked. They will make a symmetrical shape. Even in Lippan art, the student will use concepts that look neat. When logical thinking, problem-solving, and critical-thinking come together, the student realises that this can be used in the real world as well and put to use in Math as well,” Ms Rakhi said.

Also, students are exposed to quality of learning in school and this increases their interest in the subject. “They acknowledge that analytical thinking, creativity, and speculative skills that they have acquired are skills of the future that will come in handy and key to success,” Ms Rakhi said in conclusion.