As with many things in education, the term ‘enrichments’ has come to mean different things to different people. For some, it simply refers to supplemental classroom content or after-school activities that go beyond the standard curriculum. Well, others view it as a group of students who get pulled from the regular class to engage in more challenging content or gifted and talented activities.
Math enrichment, in particular, tends to mean a lot of things. All in all, we can never downplay the essence of math enrichment Singapore when it comes to shaping your future career. In this simple guide, we examine some of the most remarkable ways to engage all learners in deep mathematical thinking.
Support Positive Engagement through Discussion of Student’s Ideas and Thinking
Many college- and career-ready standards include practice standards requiring students to articulate their thinking and critique others’ reasoning. For this reason, many teachers already include mathematical conversations as a regular part of their classroom. The essence of this can never be understated.
However, not all student conversations are alike. To be effective, the discourse should be focused on high-level questions and big topics rather than solely on procedural questions. High-level questions that prompt students to reflect on and consolidate their learning improve student performance.
Engage Students with Rich Mathematical Problems
There’s no denying that problem-solving is a standard part of all math classes. Traditionally, this takes the form of routine word problems where students apply the skill learned in the previous lesson to a real-world context. Such problems rarely demand deep thinking of students.
It is important for students to ask questions, rely on their intuition, build the problem themselves, and actively and iteratively make decisions. Through discussion, students ask questions, generate ideas, determine what information they need, gather that information and then work on answering the original question, self-monitoring, and changing course as needed.
Rounding Up
Tech has become an integral part of education. As with all educational tools, its used should be carefully considered. Even though online programs have the potential to support math enrichment Singapore for all, care must be taken to ensure that they do not either become digital versions of the puzzles.
Online communication and collaboration tools can be a great way for students to model, map, and share their mathematical thinking with others. In short, you can never go wrong with math enrichment Singapore.