Math Made Easy: Struggling in the subject? Here are 13 strategies to follow

Ask any student which is the subject that they dread most and 80 per cent of the time, the answer will be Math. According to media reports of July 2021, Cuemath, an after-school live-class programme in Math, revealed a survey report which said that around 82 per cent of students between classes VII to X fear Math.

 Only two in 10 students were confident about their Math ability; this is supported by the drop in persistence to solve Math problems by nearly 14 percentage points (from 23 per cent in class VII to nine per cent in class X). This could be because concepts are getting more and more challenging and rudimentary ways of teaching continue.

So, why do students get stressed about this subject?

According to Naresh Marwaha, a Math teacher at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg with 25 years of teaching experience, students dread Mathematics because they think that they can have a good hold of this subject only by rote learning. “The truth is that this subject needs a deep and clear understanding of the concepts. This depends on the teacher — to make the subject interesting,” Marwaha explained.

He added that the subject needs to be made interactive to grab the students’ attention and interest. “Math can be interactive when a teacher uses flipped classroom pedagogy or Think-Pair-Share or has brainstorming sessions in the class. In flipped classroom students encounter information on a topic before they come into the class and utilise their class time for activities that will involve higher order thinking skills. This will make them more creative and they will become original thinkers. In this way learning can be more interesting and retained for life long as per National education Policy 2020,” Marwaha said and shared tips that students can follow to improve their score.

13 tips that students must follow

1. Connect Mathematics problems to real life and focus on understanding than memorising; this way a student can retain concepts for a long time.

 2. Think, imagine and find “why” before “how” of a concept — you must be very clear that why are we learning this concept and then you will be able to find how to understand that concept. This means concept based learning is very important.

3. Mathematics is a subject which needs daily input. So, practice the assignments provided by the teachers which normally covers questions from LOTS to HOTS. This will create your interest in the subject.

4. Be a Problem solver. Make efforts to solve the problems occurring in nature and around you. Think logically and connect Mathematics to arts, yoga, music, architecture, and nature. Set challenging goals for yourself and try to create innovative ideas.

5. Make use of modern technology and watch the content on you tube related to your concept and topic. This also improves understanding of the concept.

6. Try to find fun in your learning and make your learning joyful by adopting game based learning.

7. Participate in Math-based activities in and outside the school like Olympiads, quizzes, talks, Mathematics model making competition, and celebrate Mathematics Day as well.

 8. Do not only believe in knowing the subject, but believe in applying the concepts and then drawing conclusions from there and you will become a logical thinker.

9. Time management is another key factor. Practice the sample papers and assignments in a stipulated time.

10. Practice competency based questions as much as you can, this will improve your critical thinking.

11. Solve NCERT books and books prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education more than once.

12. Make notes of important formulae used in different topics and revise them again and again.

13. Find your weak areas and devote more time to them.

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Do not only believe in knowing the subject, but believe in applying the concepts and then drawing conclusions from there and you will become a logical thinker

–Naresh Marwaha, a Math teacher at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg

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Teachers must adopt the Connect-Reflect-Act methodology with the students. “For students, connecting with the teacher is very important to learn this subject. Teachers must use enquiry-based, discovery-based methods in class so that students can have experiential learning. Also, instead of rote learning, teachers must distribute a good number of questions in the class so that the students put their thinking caps on and be engaged in the learning process,” Marwaha opined.

He said that during his 25 years of teaching, he has always told his students that their hard work can get them a score of 90-95. But beyond that, they have to go an extra mile for each single mark to touch the centum,” Marwaha said in conclusion.