Why we need to be worried about the way we teach, not the results!
The release of the 2018 PISA results and the further decline in mathematics achievement in Australia suggests that Mathematics, a scientific language that continually shapes our emerging technologies, is not being adopted or received well by the students.
Why is this happening, the teachers are all dedicated to making sure their students do the best they can, so why are our children’s marks declining. It may not be the quality of the teacher, but more or less, the quality of the teaching content that has made this decline consistent.
Our syllabus acts as a guide of what to teach, but not “how” to teach it! This becomes an apparent issue when you take into account a recent study by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute which found that 76 per cent of students will be taught by a teacher not trained to teach mathematics! Lacking the resources and not knowing how to inspire a love for the mathematics language will mean the students are unlikely to improve and develop in mathematics, and the answer is not more testing!
We instead should focus on creating meaningful interactions for students when learning maths, and helping teachers by allowing them access to resources that will improve their ability to incite deep learning and understanding in Mathematics to their students. Study Space offers precisely that kind of assistance, offering interactive Mathematics lessons that show practical and fun applications of maths theory. This type of learning tool would assist in information retention, the lessons are compact, efficient and easy to absorb, a great follow up to in-class learning, and a perfect revision tool for students.
With increasing pressures to perform in NAPLAN and HSC, the students are in turn feeling the pressure as well, and many students have to engage resources outside of school! This focus on achieving better results, by getting more answers correct has taken away from the application and fun of Maths. Maths is such a valuable tool which we use in almost every part of our lives knowingly or not. We should be building a love for mathematics in our children, and this would make them more avid learners.
This also rings true for all subjects in education, instead of a focus on results and exam scores, we should be building better ways of teaching, methods of motivating and making learning as enjoyable an experience as possible without losing teaching efficiency. Digital learning tools will be a great catalyst with enacting this revolution of learning. Study Space is creating a new generation of motivated learners as it is far more engaging and provides relief to teachers and students to better themselves reducing all the stress and pressure placed on them to perform. Study Space is revolutionising the lesson delivery and learning process in and out of the classroom.
