Why is
reasoning and problem solving important to teach in modern primary education?
Today in Welsh classrooms, many children undertake a test to
test their ‘mathematical reasoning’ skills. You may be thinking to yourself
just from reading the tittle of this blog “what do they even mean by reasoning
skills when it comes to maths?”. Well, this test is used to measure how well
children use their own personal knowledge to solve every day realistic mathematical
problems that they come across. It enables them to make use of all of their
other mathematical skills, so it could be seen as the ‘glue’ which helps maths
make sense.
Numerical reasoning is massively important and must be taught
in modern primary education as it not only helps a child develop their numeracy
skills, it’s also educating children and allowing them to take this numerical
skill of reasoning and apply it to real life situations in order to solve them.
Here’s an example of a Year 2 numerical reasoning question for Primary School
teachers to use that I have taken from the Welsh government website.
It’s important that a child understands reasoning in order to
solve the question. If a Fang always has 5 pets with them when they walk then
its impossible for Glub to have seen 34 pets as it goes up in fives and would
have been 35.
As always, its important that the teachers are aware of the
importance of numerical reasoning and how they teach it to their children due
to different abilities within the classroom. In the classroom, a teacher’s
questions are central to the development of learners’ reasoning. They prompt
learners to analyse, justify and evaluate their problem-solving strategies
(Learning Wales,2018). It’s important that teachers are aware of the different abilities
that they’re teaching especially when it comes to numerical reasoning as some
scenarios could make more sense to a small group of children in comparison to
others. So, it’s important that the teacher is aware of their wording when it
comes to the question of the scenario as many children can be self-conscious about
what level of work they’re at in comparison to others. Children’s self
confidence in maths is predicted most strongly by their own competence but also
by gender (girls are less confident than boys) and by the ability group in
which the child is placed. However, It's important that we do not generalise these findings as boys being better and having more confidence with maths than girls as this isn't always the case. Children’s attainment, although largely determined
by cognitive and social factors, is also influenced by their self-confidence (Nunes
et al, 2009, p.1).
Problem solving of course is a massive part of numerical reasoning.
So why is it important that we also use this in the classroom?
According to Ernest (2000), Solving problems is one of the
most important activities in mathematics. Problem solving is a key life skill that
many individuals use within their career and is a key skill that many employers
are keen for and look for within their employees. There is no doubt mathematic
skill will be required for pupils to contribute and participate in society in
later life however the way some maths is presented puts pupils off (Noyes,2007).
So, of course its beneficial that we teach children the importance of this from
an early age.
As I’ve argued in previous blogs, mistakes should not be seen
as a negative thing, they should be encouraged and allow a child to learn from
them. Many pupils find problem solving
so difficult because they think there is only one solution (Cotton,2016) and
fear being wrong. Also, children may not read the question properly and may
avoid talking about it with others (Cotton, 2016).
Patience when it comes to learning is of course key, it takes
time and some things come easier than others. To help improve children’s
confidence when it comes to problem solving, there’s many different strategies
that can be used within a classroom to help them. A common method used is the ‘RUCSAC’
method (Read, Understand, Choose, Solve, Answer and Check).
The ‘RUCSAC METHOD’ is a great and easy way to help children
with their problem solving as it’s memorable and could be used as a strategy for
them when encountering a problem-solving question and when under going tests. Encouraging
helpful strategies like this will help improve children’s confidence. Another
benefit of the ‘RUCSAC MEHOD’ is that it too can be applied to numerical reasoning
with real life situations.
However, with all positives comes negatives. Problem solving can
be a very time-consuming subject which may cause children to lose concentration
and lack interest. Some children take longer than others to understand and to grasp
this skill therefore the right time and effort should be devoted to teaching
the subject. Teaches must also be careful and supervise group work when using
problem solving skills. Just because the group solved the problem does mean
that everyone participated and has a full understanding. I feel many teachers
are guilty of this by making the assumption that all pupils understand the work
from working in a group when that’s not always the case.
So, to finish off of course I feel its important that we use
both problem solving and numerical reasoning in a primary classroom as they
both bring many benefits and important life skills to learners. However, the
way the subject is taught and how the teachers go about it must be carefully considered
as yes, it is time consuming and can be confusing at times, but it is a skill
that all children must have regardless of how long it takes them to grasp it. After
all, from my own experience, learners learn at their own pace.
References
References
Cotton, T. (2016). Teaching for Mathematical Understanding.
London: Routledge.
Ernest, P. (2000). “Teaching and Learning Mathematics”, in
Koshy, V, et al, Mathematics for Primary Teachers. London Routledge.
Noyes, A. (2007). Rethinking school mathematics. London :Paul
Chapman Publishing.
Nunes, T., Bryant, P., Sylva, K. and Barros, R. (2009)
Development of maths capabilities and confidence in primary school. University
of Oxford, DfE. (online) (accessed 29 September 2013).
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