This Course is guided by the following course

outline

MZUZU UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Education

Department of Mathematics

1. Programme: Bachelor of Science Education (BScE)

2. Subject: Mathematics Methodology
3. Level of Study: 3
4. Course Title: Mathematics Classroom Practices
5. Course Code: MATM 3601
6. Duration: 16 weeks
7. Presented to: Senate
8. Presented by: Dean of Education
9. Lecture hours per week: 2
10. Tutorial hours per week: 0
11. Practical hours: 1
12. Student independent learning hrs: 2
13. Total course credits: 6
14 Pre-Requisite Course Codes(S):
15 Co-Requisite Course Codes(S):
16 Delivery Methods:
16.1 Mode of Delivery: Face to face and ODL

16.2 Teaching Methods: Lectures and tutorials

17 Assessment methods: Course work assignments

End of Semester Examinations

18 Assessment weighting: Course work assignment(s)- 40%

Final examination- 60%

19 Aim of the course: The aim of this course is to:

Develop an understanding suitable for planning and teaching mathematics.

20 Learning outcomes:
By the end of this course students should be able to:
o Apply diverse teaching techniques that encourage the learning process in the
mathematics classroom.
o Use pedagogical content knowledge for appropriate lesson presentation
o Apply learner-centered approaches and other theories in mathematics teaching and
learning
o Prepare and use various resources/manipulatives in understanding the teaching
of mathematics
o Recognise the challenges of teaching mathematics for effective planning and
teaching
o Use micro/peer teaching to develop effective teaching of mathematics

21 Topics of Study

 Familiarisation with mathematics curriculum /syllabus

o The structure and major elements of secondary school curriculum in
Malawi
o Development outcomes of mathematics
o Subject rationale

 The teaching of mathematics

o Principles and standards
o Requirements for an effective teacher
o Understanding reasons for teaching and learning mathematics
o Teacher characteristics

 Planning and teaching mathematics

o Learning theories in mathematics teaching
o Teaching and learning resources/manipulatives
o Challenges in mathematics teaching: language, attitude,
o Pedagogical content knowledge: content knowledge, strategies to be used,
assessment, conceptual and procedural knowledge in mathematics
o Learner characteristics: curriculum, topics, prior knowledge.
o Meeting the diverse needs of learners: inclusive approaches in
mathematics

 Micro/peer teaching:
o Planning lessons
o Lesson presentations and observations
o Critiquing issues from lessons

22 Recommended textbooks

1. Morgan. C., Watson. A., & Tikly. C.( 2004). Mathematics Teaching School Subjects
11-19, RoutledgeFalmer, Taylor &Francis Group London and New York .
2. Posamentier, A.S., Smith. B.S.,& Stepelman.J. ( 2006). Teaching Secondary
Mathematics, Techniques and Enrichment Units , Pearson Prentice Hall Education.
3. MIE. ( 2013). Syllabus for Mathematics . First edition. Ministry of Education
Science and Technology. Malawi Institute of Education.
4. Sidhu, S. K.( 2004). The Teaching of Mathematics, by sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd,
New Delhi.
5. Van De Walle A.J. ( 2001). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics, teaching
developmentally, Virginia Commonwealth University, Longman.
6. Sriraman, B.,&English,L.(2010). Theories of Mathematics Education; Seeking New
Frontiers. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
7. Liebeck. P. (1990). How Children Learn Mathematics, A guide for Parents and
Teachers,printed by Penguin group, Clays Ltd ,England.
8. Wadhwa, S.(2006). Modern Methods of Teaching Mathematics. Probhat Kumar
Sharma for Sarup&sons, Darya Ganj, New Delhi.
9. Johnston-Wilder S et al (1999). Learning to teach mathematics in the Secondary
school, A companion to School Experience, Routledge Falmer, Taylor &Francis Group
London and New York
10. Cathcart.G.W.,Pothier,M.Y.,Vance,J.H.,&Bezuk,N.S.(2003). Learning Mathematics in
Elementary and Middle Schools, Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Columbus, Ohio

This course outline was presented to Senate on………………………………………… and

Approved on ……………………………………….

UNIT 1 : Principles and Standards of school Mathematics

The Six Principles

One of the most important features of Principles and Standards for School Mathematics is the
articulation of six principles fundamental to high-quality mathematics education:

● Equity

● Curriculum

● Teaching

● Learning

● Assessment

● Technology

According to Principles and Standards, these principles must be “deeply intertwined with school
mathematics programs” (NCTM, 2000, p. 12). The principles make it clear that excellence in
mathematics education involves much more than simply listing content objectives.

The Equity Principle

Excellence in mathematics education requires equity— high expectations and strong support for all
students. (NCTM, 2000, p. 12) The strong message of the Equity Principle is high expectations for all
students. All students must have the opportunity and adequate support to learn mathematics
“regardless of personal characteristics, backgrounds, or physical challenges” (p. 12). The significance
of high expectations for all is interwoven throughout the document.

The Curriculum Principle

A curriculum is more than a collection of activities: it must be coherent, focused on important
mathematics, and well articulated across the grades. (NCTM, 2000, p. 14) Coherence speaks to the
importance of building instruction around “big ideas”—both in the curriculum and in daily classroom
instruction. Students must be helped to see that mathematics is an integrated whole, not a
collection of isolated bits and pieces. Mathematical ideas can be considered “important” if they help
develop other ideas, link one idea to another, or serve to illustrate the discipline of mathematics as a
human endeavor.

The Teaching Principle

Effective mathematics teaching requires understanding what students know and need to learn and
then challenging and supporting them to learn it well. (NCTM, 2000, p. 16)

What students learn about mathematics depends almost entirely on the experiences that teachers
provide every day in the classroom. To provide high-quality mathematics education, teachers must
(1) understand deeply the mathematics content they are teaching;

(2) understand how students learn mathematics, including a keen awareness of the individual
mathematical development of their own students and common misconceptions; and

(3) select meaningful instructional tasks and generalizable strategies that will enhance learning.
“Teachers’ actions are what encourage students to think, question, solve problems, and discuss their
ideas, strategies, and solutions” (p. 18).

The Learning Principle

Students must learn mathematics with understanding, actively building new knowledge from
experience and prior knowledge. (NCTM, 2000, p. 20)

The learning principle is based on two fundamental ideas. First, learning mathematics with
understanding is essential. Mathematics today requires not only computational skills but also the
ability to think and reason mathematically to solve new problems and learn new ideas that students
will face in the future. Second, students can learn mathematics with understanding. Learning is
enhanced in classrooms where students are required to evaluate their own ideas and those of
others, are encouraged to make mathematical conjectures and test them, and are helped to develop
their reasoning and sense-making skills.

The Assessment Principle

Assessment should support the learning of important mathematics and furnish useful information to
both teachers and students . . . Assessment should not merely be done to students; rather, it should
also be done for students, to guide and enhance their learning. (NCTM, 2000, p. 22) Ongoing
assessment highlights for students the most important mathematics concepts. Assessment that
includes ongoing observation and student interaction encourages students to articulate and, thus,
clarify their ideas. Feedback from daily assessment helps students establish goals and become more
independent learners. Assessment should be a major factor in making instructional decisions. By
continuously gathering data about students’ understanding of concepts and growth in reasoning,
teachers can better make the daily decisions that support student learning. For assessment to be
effective, teachers must use a variety of assessment techniques, understand their mathematical
goals deeply, and have a research-supported notion of students’ thinking or common
misunderstandings of the mathematics that is being developed.
The Connections standard has two parts. First, it is important to connect within and among
mathematical ideas. For example, fractional parts of a whole are connected to concepts of decimals
and percents. Students need opportunities to see how mathematical concepts build on one another
in a network of connected ideas.

Second, mathematics should be connected to the real world and to other disciplines. Students
should see that mathematics plays a significant role in art, science, language arts, and social studies.
This suggests that mathematics should frequently be integrated with other discipline areas and that
applications of mathematics should be explored in real world contexts.

The Representation standard emphasizes the use of symbols, charts, graphs, manipulatives, and
diagrams as powerful methods of expressing mathematical ideas and relationships. Symbolism in
mathematics, along with visual aids such as charts and graphs, should be understood by students as
ways of communicating mathematical ideas to others. Moving from one representation to another is
an important way to add depth of understanding to a newly formed idea. Members of NCTM have
free online access to the Principles and Standards as well as the three previous standards
documents. Non members can sign up for 120 days of free access to the Principles and Standards at
[Link]. The process standards should not be regarded as separate content or strands in the
mathematics curriculum. Rather, they direct the methods of doing all mathematics and, therefore,
should be seen as integral components of all mathematics learning and teaching. To teach in a way
that reflects these process standards is one of the best definitions of what it means to teach
“according to the Standards.”

The Problem Solving standard describes problem solving as the vehicle through which students
develop mathematical ideas. Learning and doing mathematics as you solve problems is probably the
most significant message in the Standards documents.

The Reasoning and Proof standard emphasizes the logical thinking that helps us decide if and why
our answers make sense. Students need to develop the habit of providing a rationale as an integral
part of every answer. It is essential for students to learn the value of justifying ideas through logical
argument.

The Communication standard points to the importance of being able to talk about, write about,
describe, and explain mathematical ideas. Learning to communicate in mathematics fosters
interaction and exploration of ideas in the classroom as students learn through active discussions of
their thinking. No better way exists for wrestling with or cementing an idea than attempting to
articulate it to others.

UNIT 2: REVIEW OF THEORIES OF

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Introduction

There is a paradigm shift of teaching and learning from banking type to learner-centred (
constructivism). Knowledge is constructed by the learner and not passively received from the
teacher. Every mathematics teacher should have knowledge of theories of learning in order to
understand the learner better.
Behaviorism

Behaviorism attempts to explain learning through the observable interactions of the learner with the
environment, without inferring anything that is going on inside the learner. It is based on the
stimulus-response model of Skinner, which attempts to apply the methods of science to the study of
human learning.

Constructivism

Constructivism differs from behaviorism at the most fundamental question: from where does
knowledge come? Constructivists claim that a person’s knowledge is constructed by her or himself in
the setting of some environment.

Socio-culturalism

The work of Vygotsky has gained increased recognition in the mathematics education community. His
theory states that the development of a student’s intelligence “results from social interaction in the
world and that speech, social interaction, and co-operative activity are all important aspects of this
social world”. The role of the teacher is central to this theory in that the teacher must convey the
relationship between the sign and the meaning of the sign. Vygotsky described a Zone of Proximal
Development as the distance between the level of development of a student (working on problems)
and her or his level of potential development (working with an adult). This zone allows the adult to be
the “tool holder,” that is, having conscious control of the concept, for the child until he or she is able
to internalize external knowledge. This process is referred to as scaffolding (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986). It
seems well to note here two comparisons of Vygotsky and Piaget. Sutherland (1993) notes the
similarity of views in which the child has an active role in learning. Indeed, Vygotsky’s notion the
child needing to internalize external knowledge is very constructive. However, Sutherland cites a
lengthy passage from Vygotsky addressing his differences with Piaget’s views on the role of speech.
She also noted their different emphases on the role of the teacher, implying that Piaget does not
address teaching specifically. Confrey, in a three-part article (1994, 1995a, 1995b), seeks to combine
these two theories, supplementing them with feminist scholarship in her revised theory. She describes
at length both theories of learning and itemizes their respective strengths and limitations. Confrey
seems to exaggerate Piaget’s view of the student constructing understanding for her or himself to the
view that she or he must do it in isolation. Also, while Vygotsky values the role of social interaction,
his socio-cultural perspective can limit diversity in the classroom. These authors are comparing
different things. While Sutherland looks at the theories themselves, Confrey compares
implementations of the theory. 1.4 Theory of Embodied Mathematics Lakoff and N´u˜nez (2000)
offer a view of learning mathematics based on the notion “that conceptual metaphor plays a central,
defining role in mathematical ideas within the cognitive unconscious”. Their work extends findings in
cognitive science to describe how many mathematical concepts arise in the minds of learners through
the use of metaphor and blending. 2 Epistemological Frameworks The following set of frameworks is
my list of those authors who are leaders in mathematics education research and should not be
interpreted as complete. I describe each framework briefly, giving its distinctive characteristics and
theoretical background. While there is no explicit attempt to compare and contrast frameworks, I have
categorized them into subsections. Actions, Processes and Objects Dubinsky (1991) has developed an
epistemological framework referred to as Action-ProcessObject-Schema, or APOS. The framework
considers the development of a mathematical concept as moving from an action (intraoperational) to
a process (interoperational) via a type of reflective abstraction called interiorization. The resulting
process can be encapsulated into an object (transoperational). The framework notes that objects
constructed in this 3 manner can be de-encapsulated back to the process when needed. Schemas are
constructed by coordinating processes and actions and can also be thematized into objects (Asiala et
al., 1996). This framework results in descriptions of the mental constructions a student makes to come
to understand a concept. These descriptions are called genetic decompositions. Instructional
treatments are devised which may bring the student to make the constructions described in the genetic
decomposition. These treatments generally involve the use of a mathematical programming language
on computers, cooperative learning strategies, and alternatives to lecturing (Asiala et al., 1996). Sfard
(1991) also employs a framework which seeks to describe mental constructions in two ways:
structurally (as objects) or operationally (as processes). Her description of the reflective abstractions
necessary to move from process to object are interiorization, condensation, and reification. This
framework posits that objects and processes have a dual nature, rather than a dichotomous relation.
Thompson (1994a) also describes the development of concepts in terms of processes and objects.
He describes the student’s image of a concept as figural knowledge or a metaphor. He distinguishes
this image from the concept image of Vinner (discussed below) and from schemas (although not as
explicitly): Vinner’s idea of concept image focuses on the coalescence of mental pictures into
categories corresponding to conventional mathematical vocabulary, while the notion of image I’ve
attempted to develop focuses on the dynamics of mental operations. The two notions of image are
not inconsistent, they merely have a different focus. (Thompson, 1994a, p. 231) Thompson’s
framework proposes the development of instruction which nurtures and extends students’ images in
mathematics. 2.2 Concept Image and Concept Definition Vinner (1992), along with Dreyfus and Tall,
has distinguished the concept image and the concept definition of a student. The concept image is a
collection of all the objects, processes, and schemas possessed by a student which are associated
with the concept. This may include mental pictures, misconceptions and properties (Dreyfus, 1990).
The tension between this image and the mathematical definition is the focus of the framework. By
describing a student’s concept image, one is able to help the student reorganize it into a more
coherent structure which is consonant with the concept definition (Thompson, 1994b). Tall (1989)
uses a framework based on the concept image which includes the use of generic organizers and
computer modeling. A generic organizer is an environment (or microworld) which enables the
learner to manipulate examples and (if possible) non-examples of a specific mathematical concept or
a related system of concepts.” (Tall, 1989, p. 39 [emphasis in original]) Pedagogically, this framework
allows the learner to build from cognitive bases rather than mathematical foundations. 4 2.3
Multiple Representations Kaput (1985) explores student understanding of mathematical concepts by
observing the student’s ability to represent the concept. Five uses of representation in mathematics
are (a) mental, (b) computer, (c) explanatory, (d) mathematical, and (e) symbolic—as with external
mathematical notation. Kaput (1991) extends the idea of the student’s notational system as an
architecture which organizes her or his mathematical experience. The notational system is also used
to represent the mental structures in the physical world. The analogy to architecture is extended to
say that, as an educator, one can design elegant and functional representational systems, possibly
with computer contexts, for students. He describes the existence of three “worlds”; material,
mental, and social (or consensual). The mathematics classroom is located in the consensual world
where change can take place rapidly. Thus learning takes place in the relationship between the
student representing and interpreting mathematics and in the shared meaning with others. A
related framework is that of Greeno, who also considers a conceptual domain for mathematical
thinking. It should be noted that these frameworks are not explicitly based on any of the three
theories previously given (neither is that of Schoenfeld, below). Reasoning is accomplished by
interacting with mental models in this environment.

Activity
Think more
1. How do the knowledge of theories of learning and teaching help teachers
to effectively teach better
2. Write down why the theory of Multiple Intelligence would be appropriate
for active learning of mathematics.
3. Explain why Bloom’s Taxonomy is considered as a better guide to the
teaching and learning of mathematics .
4. Discuss how you would teach directed numbers using constructivism
approach in Form 1.

UNIT 2:FAMILIARISATION WITH THE

CURRICULUM/ SYLLABUS OF
MATHEMATICS
Introduction
In this module you are introduced to a curriculum / syllabus which is an important document for
the teaching and learning of mathematics. Going through the document you will understand its
structure and elements to guide you in your teaching. Knowledge of mathematics syllabus for
teachers is vital as it directs concepts which are appropriate in a particular level of classroom.
Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum mapping is the process indexing or diagraming a curriculum to identify and

address academic gaps, redundancies, and misalignments for purposes of improving the
overall coherence of a course of study and, by extension, its effectiveness (a curriculum, in
the sense that the term is typically used by educators, encompasses everything that teachers
teach to students in a school or course, including the instructional materials and techniques
they use).

In most cases, curriculum mapping refers to the alignment of learning standards and
teaching—i.e., how well and to what extent a school or teacher has matched the content that
students are actually taught with the academic expectations described in learning standards—
but it may also refer to the mapping and alignment of all the many elements that are entailed
in educating students, including assessments, textbooks, assignments, lessons, and
instructional techniques.

Generally speaking, a coherent curriculum is (1) well organized and purposefully designed to
facilitate learning, (2) free of academic gaps and needless repetitions, and (3) aligned across
lessons, courses, subject areas, and grade levels. When educators map a curriculum, they are
working to ensure that what students are actually taught matches the academic expectations
in a particular subject area or grade level.
While the specific approach or strategies used to map a curriculum may vary widely from
district to district, school to school, or even teacher to teacher, the process typically aims to
achieve a few common goals:

 Vertical coherence: When a curriculum is vertically aligned or vertically coherent,

what students learn in one lesson, course, or grade level prepares them for the next
lesson, course, or grade level.

Curriculum mapping aims to ensure that teaching is purposefully structured and

logically sequenced across grade levels so that students are building on what they
have previous learned and learning the knowledge and skills that will progressively
prepare them for more challenging, higher-level work.

 Horizontal coherence: When a curriculum is horizontally aligned or horizontally

coherent, what students are learning in one class of biology course, for example,
mirrors what other students are learning in a different class of biology course.

Curriculum mapping aims to ensure that the assessments, tests, and other methods
teachers use to evaluate learning achievement and progress are based on what has
actually been taught to students and on the learning standards that the students are
expected to meet in a particular course, subject area, or grade level.

 Subject-area coherence: When a curriculum is coherent within a subject area—such

as mathematics, science, or history—it may be aligned both within and across grade
levels. Curriculum mapping for subject-area coherence aims to ensure that teachers
are working toward the same learning standards in similar courses (say, three different
form three classes of algebra courses taught by different teachers), and that students
are also learning the same amount of content, and receiving the same quality of
instruction, across subject-area courses.
 Interdisciplinary coherence: When a curriculum is coherent across multiple subject
areas—such as mathematics, science, and history—it may be aligned both within and
across grade levels. Curriculum mapping for interdisciplinary coherence may focus on
skills and work habits that students need to succeed in any academic course or
discipline, such as reading skills, writing skills, technology skills, and critical-thinking
skills. Improving interdisciplinary coherence across a curriculum, for example, might
entail teaching students reading and writing skills in all academic courses, not just
English courses.

Mathematics secondary school Curriculum

This curriculum focuses on student achievement. To achieve the outcomes, students must be
introduced to new knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in the context of their existing
knowledge, skills, attitudes and values so that they develop a deeper understanding as they
learn and apply the knowledge. In this way, the process of learning is integral to the final
product. The final products are the outcomes, that is, what students are expected to achieve
in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, which must be clearly stated before
teaching and learning begin. The achievements made at school, however, are only truly
beneficial when the students transfer them to life beyond the school and view learning as a
lifelong process. This is essential to keep pace with the changing social environment of home
and work.

The figure below illustrates the structure and major elements of Malawi’s secondary school
curriculum, which are elaborated in the text below.

TEACHING LEARNING

Developmental outcomes

Secondary education outcomes

Assessment standards

Success
criteria

ASSESSMENT

The developmental structure of the secondary school curriculum in Malawi

Developmental outcomes
The developmental outcomes are over-arching; they are what the student is expected to
achieve by the end of the secondary school cycle both in and out of school. These outcomes
apply to subject areas and they have been derived from the Constitution of the Republic of
Malawi, Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS), National Education Sector
Plan (NESP), Education Act and other education policy documents, including global policies
and multilateral agreements to which Malawi is a signatory, as well as from the Secondary
School Curriculum and Assessment Review (SSCAR). That is, students should be able to:

1 demonstrate appropriate moral and ethical behaviour in accordance with the accepted
norms and values of the society
2 demonstrate local, regional, and international understanding
3 communicate competently, effectively, and relevantly in a variety of contexts, in an
appropriate local or international language
4 apply mathematical concepts in socio-cultural, political, economic, environmental,
scientific, and technological contexts to solve problems
5 apply scientific, technological, vocational, and managerial skills in a creative and
innovative way to identify problems and develop appropriate solutions, so as to
participate productively in society
6 demonstrate health-promoting behaviour in their personal lives as well as in their
communities and the wider environment, with particular attention to prevalent diseases
7 appreciate and interact with the environment in a responsible and sustainable manner
8 apply the indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge and skills necessary for lifelong
learning, personal advancement, employment, and the development of society
9 use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) responsibly and productively
10 demonstrate an understanding of the functioning of the economy and the contribution of
agriculture and other sectors to national development
11 make use of entrepreneurial and vocational skills for personal and national development
12 apply research skills for problem-solving
13 demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of issues of human rights, democracy,
gender, governance, and other emerging issues

Secondary education outcomes

The secondary education outcomes are categorised into seven sets of essential skills to be
acquired by a secondary school graduate. The skills are:

1 citizenship skills
2 ethical and socio-cultural skills
3 economic development and environmental management skills
4 occupational and entrepreneurial skills
5 practical skills
6 creativity and resourcefulness
7 scientific and technological skills

Citizenship skills
1 demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the symbols of nationhood
2 demonstrate a spirit of patriotism and national unity
3 apply decision-making skills necessary for participation in civic affairs
4 demonstrate a spirit of leadership and service
5 show respect for one’s own and other people’s rights and responsibilities
6 tolerate other people’s attitudes and beliefs
7 demonstrate respect for the rule of law
8 understand characteristics of good governance
9 initiate and implement community development projects
10 demonstrate a sense of good neighbourliness
11 demonstrate a sense of national, regional and international understanding
12 demonstrate cooperative behaviour
13 demonstrate personal and social responsibility

Ethical and socio-cultural skills

14 demonstrate moral, spiritual and ethical attitudes and values
15 appreciate Malawi’s diverse cultures and their respective practices
16 appreciate existing national institutions and cultural heritage
17 appreciate the value of the relationship between the individual and society
18 respect one’s own and other people’s cultures
19 identify beliefs which promote or retard national development
20 evaluate beliefs, taboos and superstitions in relation to national development
21 uphold beliefs which promote national development

Economic development and environmental management skills

22 understand Malawi’s economy and economic structure
23 demonstrate entrepreneurial and/or vocational skills for formal or informal
employment
24 exploit economic opportunities stemming from agriculture
25 demonstrate an interest in land husbandry, animal husbandry and aquaculture
26 apply appropriate agricultural practices and methods
27 acquire positive attitudes and skills, and apply them to the sustainable development of
the natural and physical environment
28 understand the importance of diversified agriculture for Malawi’s economy
29 understand the impact of technologies on economic productivity
30 apply relevant technologies to various economic activities
31 apply value addition practices to agricultural and environmental resource utilisation
and management
32 appreciate Malawi’s environmental resources
33 understand the impact of rapid population growth on natural resources and the
delivery of social services
34 apply a variety of measures to conserve Malawi’s natural resources
35 apply ICT skills to improve intellectual growth, personal enhancement and
communication
36 demonstrate the ability to adapt to climate change and mitigate its impact on the
economy and environment
37 appreciate the importance of energy in economic development
38 understand the importance of diversifying the economy through sectors such as
tourism, mining and manufacturing

Occupational and entrepreneurial skills

39 demonstrate the spirit of self-reliance through vocational and entrepreneurial activities
40 apply appropriate vocational, occupational and entrepreneurial skills to individual and
national advancement
41 demonstrate effective communication skills for the transfer of occupational and
entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
42 apply the principles of science and technology, entrepreneurship and management to
promote active and productive participation in the society
43 demonstrate creativity and innovation for the benefit of the individual, community and
the nation as a whole
44 demonstrate an understanding of indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge, skills,
attitudes and values, and apply them to personal intellectual growth and national
development
45 use vocational, occupational and entrepreneurial skills for the creation of economic
opportunities in agriculture and other sectors

Practical skills
46 acquire entrepreneurial skills related to agriculture, commerce and industry
47 apply appropriate skills to agricultural, commercial and industrial production
48 demonstrate positive attitudes to manual work
49 demonstrate excellence in any kind of workmanship
50 demonstrate sporting ability and sportsmanship
51 demonstrate the ability to use creative and innovative artistic talents for self-
employment

Creativity and resourcefulness

52 demonstrate a spirit of inquiry and creative, critical and lateral thinking
53 use problem-solving techniques to solve practical problems
54 demonstrate an imaginative and creative mind
55 exploit creative potential
56 understand personal strengths and weaknesses and use strengths to promotehealthy
self-esteem
57 maximise the use of available resources

Scientific and technological skills

58 apply appropriate scientific, technological and vocational skills to improve economic
productivity
59 apply relevant innovations in science and technology
60 demonstrate a capacity to utilise appropriate technology
61 demonstrate basic research skills

Rationale for mathematics

Mathematics is a vehicle for the development and improvement of a person’s intellectual
competence in logical reasoning, spatial visualisation, analysis and abstract thought.
Learners develop such skills as computational, reasoning, critical thinking, and problem
solving through the learning and application of mathematics. Mathematics is also vital in
enabling learners to communicate competently and effectively in different contexts using
mathematical language. These skills are valuable not only in learning other disciplines, but
also in everyday life and in the workplace. The development of a highly skilled,
scientifically and technologically based human resources requires a strong grounding in
mathematics. An emphasis on mathematics learning in secondary schools will ensure that
we have an increasingly competitive workforce to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Mathematics is also a subject of enjoyment and excitement, which offers students
opportunities for creative work and moments of enlightenment and joy. When ideas are
discovered and insights gained, students are encouraged to pursue mathematics beyond the
classroom walls.

Core elements and their outcomes

Number and numeration

The students will be able to describe number systems and apply their properties in
arithmetical operations.

Structure

The students will be able to describe sets of numbers including properties of vectors,
rotation, reflection, translation and matrices in terms of quantity, structure, and space.

Space and shape

The students will be able to solve problems involving shape, size, space, relationships
between the sides and the angles of triangles, Pythagoras theorem and trigonometric
functions.

Patterns, functions and change

The students will be able to draw and interpret graphs and charts, organize and interpret
information, relationships and changes.

Statistics

The students will be able to formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect,
organize, and display relevant data to answer them; select and use appropriate simple
statistical methods to analyze data; develop and make predictions that are based on data;
understand and apply basic concepts of probability.

A generalized lesson plan template is quite useful. Among other things, it helps unify the
overall processes and profession of teaching, giving all teachers some common ground.
However, each discipline has its own content and its own pedagogical content knowledge
(PCK). pedagogical content knowledge A good discipline-specific lesson plan reflects the
uniqueness of the content and teaching of the discipline. A good teacher in a discipline draws
heavily on that discipline’s proven PCK repertoire. A good lesson plan may well include a
discussion of PCK to employ when conducting the lesson.
The remainder of this document focuses on possible components of a math lesson plan
template. Of course, such a template will include the components of the general-purpose
lesson plan. However, the teaching of math has many differences from teaching any other
discipline. A good math lesson plan reflects these differences.
Math was an informal area of study long before the development of reading and writing. With
the development of reading and writing somewhat over 5,000 years ago, math became part of
the core curriculum in schools. Many people believe math to be second only to language arts
in importance in the curriculum.

What distinguishes math from other disciplines? Perhaps a good starting point in answering
this question is to delve into an exploration of what constitutes a discipline.

The various academic disciplines in our formal educational system have considerable
differences. Each academic discipline or area of study is delineated by such things as its:

 Typical problems, tasks, and activities it addresses

 Accumulated accomplishments (results, achievements, products, performances,

scope, power, uses, impact on the societies of the world, and so on)

 History, culture, and language, including notation and specialized vocabulary

 Methods of teaching, learning, and assessment; its lower-order and higher-order

knowledge and skills; and its critical thinking and understanding—what its
practitioners do to further their work and pass on their ethics, knowledge,
products, and skills

 Tools, methodologies, and types of evidence and arguments used in solving

problems, accomplishing tasks, and recording and sharing accumulated results

 Criteria that separate and distinguish among a:

a) novice,
b) person who has a personally useful level of competence,
c) reasonably competent person, employable in the discipline,
d) local or regional expert,
e) national or world-class expert.
When you teach within a discipline, you represent that discipline. Part of your teaching task
is an appropriate and adequate representation of the discipline. This means that you, as a
math teacher, need to identify and explain similarities and differences between math and the
other disciplines your students have studied or are studying. This is especially important for
the various other disciplines in which math is a standard component. For example, you know
that students use math in business and science. What distinguishes math from business or
science?
Practitioners, teachers, and students all face the challenge that a well established discipline
has substantial breadth and depth. A single discipline-pecific lesson addresses a minute
fraction of the discipline. Thus, considerable thought ought to be given as to what aspects of
the discipline should be stressed and how this material contributes to a student's overall
progress toward gaining expertise within the discipline.
Typical disciplines included in PreK-12 education are so vast that even if the entire PreK-12
curriculum were devoted to the study of just one such discipline, students would learn only a
small fraction of that discipline. Indeed, students continuing their studies through a
bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree in a discipline still master only a modest fraction of
that discipline.

This observation helps us to understand the relative ease of creating a one-period lesson plan
in a discipline versus the challenge of reating a multi-lesson unit of study, a course, or an
extended curriculum leading to a relatively high level of expertise in a discipline. It is quite
difficult to develop an extensive curriculum that fits the needs of a broad range of students
who are working over a period of many years to gain a particular level of expertise in the
various disciplines. This is further complicated by synergies among disciplines.

Often, large teams of "experts" in a discipline address this challenge by working to develop
appropriate scope, sequence, and benchmarks. Most professional societies have such ongoing
efforts. For example, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) plays a
leadership role in developing math education standards in the United States. From time to
time a populous state, such as California, will publish benchmarks in a discipline such as
math, and these benchmarks influence textbook companies and many other states throughout
the country.

Currently, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) project is a dominant force in the
United State. See [Link]

What Is Math?
Precollege math curricula in the United States are sometimes described as (and criticized as)
being "a mile wide and an inch deep." So many different topics can be taught that it is hard to
decide which to emphasize. Time is limited, and curriculum developers continually face the
challenge of balancing depth and variety.
A possible lodestone is to attend to the essence of the discipline. Thus, math educators think
carefully about the math-related aspects of attitude, content, and process. Their answers to
"What is math?" will then guide development of curriculum content, teacher attitudes,
instructional processes, and assessment in our math educational system. Those who teach
teachers are expected to be mathematically competent and able to communicate a defensible
answer to the "What is math?" question.

Although there are many different approaches to learning, there are three basic types of
learning theory: behaviorist, cognitive constructivist, and social constructivist. This section
provides a brief introduction to each type of learning theory. The theories are treated in four
parts: a short historical introduction, a discussion of the view of knowledge presupposed by
the theory, an account of how the theory treats learning and student motivation, and finally,
an overview of some of the instructional methods promoted by the theory is presented.

Behaviorism Cognitive Constructivism Social Constructivism

View of Knowledge is a Knowledge systems of Knowledge is
knowledge repertoire of cognitive structures are constructed within
behavioral responses actively constructed by social contexts through
to environmental learners based on pre- interactions with a
stimuli. existing cognitive structures. knowledge community.
View of Passive absorption of a Active assimilation and Integration of students
learning predefined body of accommodation of new into a knowledge
knowledge by the information to existing community.
learner. Promoted by cognitive structures. Collaborative
repetition and positive Discovery by learners. assimilation and
reinforcement. accommodation of new
information.
View of Extrinsic, involving Intrinsic; learners set their Intrinsic and extrinsic.
motivation positive and negative own goals and motivate Learning goals and
reinforcement. themselves to learn. motives are determined
both by learners and
extrinsic rewards
provided by the
knowledge community.
Implications Correct behavioral The teacher facilitates Collaborative learning
for responses are learning by providing an is facilitated and guided
Teaching transmitted by the environment that promotes by the teacher. Group
teacher and absorbed discovery and work.
by the students. assimilation/accommodation.

Learning Theories
What is constructivism?

Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -- about how
people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the
world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter
something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe
changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any
case, we are active creators of our own knowledge.

In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different
teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use
active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to
reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher
makes sure she understands the students' pre existing conceptions, and guides the activity to
address them and then build on them.

Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain
understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist
classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning.
With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn

You might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their

experiences, students find their ideas gaining in complexity and power, and
they develop increasingly strong abilities to integrate new information. One
of the teacher's main roles becomes to encourage this learning and reflection
process.

For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem

in physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students
restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or
her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher
seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore.
They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what
they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to
better understand the concept.

Learning theories provide a pedagogical/andragogical basis for understanding how our

students learn. As McLeod notes, "Each theoretical perspective offers benefits to designers
but the perspectives must be taken into context depending upon the situation, performance
goal(s), and learners. And since the context in which the learning takes place can be dynamic
and multi-dimensional, some combination of the three learning theories and perhaps others
should be considered and incorporated into the instructional design process to provide
optimal learning."
MATHEMATICS TEACHING METHODS

4.0 Introduction

In this unit you will discuss methods used for teaching mathematics.
Furthermore you will describe the advantages and disadvantages of such

Identify the mathematics

4.2 Prerequisite Knowledge.
4.1 teachingobjectives.
Learning methods commonly used.
 Explain the merits and demerits of the teaching methods.
 Describe the role of the methods in the teaching and learning of
mathematics.
methods in teaching. These will enable you to make choices on how to use
such methods. This will help you to have variety of approaches to the
teaching of mathematics.

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

In order to prepare you well, in this chapter, we assume you have done some
courses of education and mathematics at levels one and two at university.

4.3 Time required.

In order to understand this unit you should not spend more than 1 hour 30
minutes.

Teaching involves the way in which knowledge is imparted to the learner. In

order for the teacher to ensure that learning is taking place, he/she selects a
method suitable for presenting the lesson effectively. The tradition way of
chalk and talk should not dominate the classroom. There are many methods
used in the teaching and learning of secondary school mathematics. Some
methods work better depending on the classroom situations.

Activity 1
Brainstorm the methods you know in the teaching of mathemtics.

Some of the methods you have listed include Lecture, Question and Answer,
Group work, Demonstration, Pair work and Think-pair-share, Discussion
(whole class and group), Role play, Discovery, Games, Practical, Jig-saw.
Each method has its advantage and disadvantage to the teacher and to the
learner. The teacher need to use variety of methods when teaching
mathematics. Also teachers need to be aware that methods which promote
learner-centred are supposed to dominate the whole lesson. The idea
behind is to ensure that learners are engaged throughout the entire lesson
presentation. It is believed that learners who are active participants perform
better than those who are dormant. So a careful selection of methods need
to be done in order to promote an active classroom.

4.4 Merits and Demerits of the Teaching Methods

As already pointed out learners need to construct their own knowledge

through the methods that are carefully selected by the teacher. Thus
methods which provide an opportunity for meaningful learning are regarded
as promoting constructivism. In constructivism approaches the teacher
assumes the role of a facilitator through supporting and guiding learners.
Learner-centered approaches have been regarded to be more beneficial and
they also produce meaningful learning. In addition, the teaching of
mathematics require effective communication in order to assist the learner
understand concepts thoroughly. Most of the methods used are known due to
how they are organized for a particular purpose. Different methods of
teaching have been proposed or propounded by different educational thinkers
or schools of thought in education. In such cases the choice is left to the
teacher to decide which method to use.

ACTIVITY 2
In groups discuss the merits and demerits of the teaching methods mentioned
in the previous section.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____

In your discussion some of the ideas can also be related to large classes,
inadequate resources, saving time, promoting creativity, engaging learners,
learner-centred, maximising time versus content coverage, sharing of
knowledge between students/ students and students/ teacher.

4.5 The Role of Mathematics Teacher in the Teaching Methods

Given a wide range of the teaching methods and knowing the learners, the
teacher is left to make choices for teaching. It is wrong for a teacher to
become a slave of only one method, and think that the same method will
serve his/her purpose for ever (Sidhu, K.S, 2004).

Activity 3
Discuss the implications of the teaching methods to mathematics teachers and
learners.

Some methods discussed may not work better all the time for the teacher.
The nature of content to be presented can also affect choices of the methods.
Variety of methods within the lesson can help all learners acquire better
skills. Learners need also to be motivated as they are doing mathematics. Let
students discover things for themselves and the teacher must only guide and
support them.

4.6 Unit Assessment

4.7 Unit Summary
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participation when learning mathematics.
requires good selection of methods. These methods must be able to engage
learners in meaningful construction of knowledge. These methods in turn will
help learners to be motivated to learn and thereby performing better in
mathematics. In the next lesson you will be introduced to effective
communication in the classroom.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN MATHEMATICS

5.0 Introduction.
In this unit you will be introduced to teaching skills used by teachers in the
classroom for effective teaching and learning. You will also use examples
from mathematics syllabus to understand the importance of the skills. In
addition, these teaching skills are part and parcel of effective learner
participation in mathematics for better understanding of concepts. You will
also describe the teaching skills and be able to examine the role of teachers
in the teaching skills.

5.1 Learning Objectives.

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

5.2 Pre-requisite Knowledge.

In order to learn this unit you need the knowledge of education courses and
knowledge of mathematics

5.3 Time Required.

For you to complete the unit successfully you need to spend not less than 2
hours 30 minutes.

Using teaching methods alone will not help the teacher to teach his or her
learners to attain good learning. In this case the teacher employs certain
tactics to develop the potential of learning in the lesson. Mathematics
teaching skills are the strategies employed by teachers in the classroom for
the effective teaching and learning. Every teacher thinks about how best to
teach his or her learners for better understanding. The teacher uses the
teaching skills from the beginning of the lesson up to the end of the lesson.
These teaching skills are also techniques necessary for classroom
communication between the teacher and learners. When these teaching
skills are handled properly by teachers, learners’ interest and curiosity
become enhanced. There are several teaching skills you are supposed to
learn as a way of presenting quality mathematics to your students. There are
some teaching skills frequently being used in lesson presentation while others
are specifically for a purpose. The way some skills are applied in some
courses might be different due to the nature of the courses being offered.

5.4 Skill of introducing a lesson.

This skill is concerned with methods of preparing classes for a lesson, that is
pre-instructional orientation. You should practice skills of starting effective
lessons. When introducing the lesson your students need to be ready for the
new lesson, to be attentive ( to pay attention) on what to be presented, they
must also develop curiosity. Teachers must observe that the new concept to
be presented is showing a link to issues students are familiar with.

Activity 1
Let students practice in groups on how they would introduce the topic
Similarity to form 2 students.
Activity 2
In groups students are asked to discuss what they understand by the
following communication skills:

Let students report their findings.

Skill of Questioning

This skill is the most important in guiding the teaching and learning process.

Good questioning techniques have long being regarded as a fundamental tool

of effective teachers. Unfortunately, research shows that 93% of teacher
questions are "lower order" knowledge based questions focusing on recall of
facts (Daines, 1986). Clearly this is not the right type of questioning to
stimulate the mathematical thinking that can arise from engagement in open
problems and investigations. Many Primary teachers have already developed
considerable skill in good questioning in curriculum areas such as Literacy
and History and social studies, but do not transfer these skills to
Mathematics. Teachers' instincts often tell them that they should use
investigational mathematics more often in their teaching, but are sometimes
disappointed with the outcomes when they try it. There are two common
reasons for this. One is that the children are inexperienced in this approach
and find it difficult to accept responsibility for the decision making required
and need a lot of practise to develop organised or systematic approaches.
The other reason is that the teachers have yet to develop a questioning style
that guides, supports and stimulates the children without removing the
responsibility for problem-solving process from the children.

Types of Questions
Within the context of open-ended mathematical tasks, it is useful to group
questions into four main categories (Badham, 1994). These questions can be
used be the teacher to guide the children through investigations while
stimulating their mathematical thinking and gathering information about their
knowledge and strategies.

1. Starter questions
These take the form of open-ended questions which focus the children's
thinking in a general direction and give them a starting point. Examples:
How could you sort these.......?
How many ways can you find to ....... ?
What happens when we ......... ?
What can be made from....?
How many different ....... can be found?

2. Questions to stimulate mathematical thinking

These questions assist children to focus on particular strategies and help
them to see patterns and relationships. This aids the formation of a strong
conceptual network. The questions can serve as a prompt when children
become 'stuck'. (Teachers are often tempted to turn these questions into
instructions, which is far less likely to stimulate thinking and removes
responsibility for the investigation from the child).
Examples:
What is the same?
What is different?
Can you group these ....... in some way?
Can you see a pattern?
How can this pattern help you find an answer?
What do think comes next? Why?
Is there a way to record what you've found that might help us see more
patterns?
What would happen if....?

3. Assessment questions
Questions such as these ask children to explain what they are doing or how
they arrived at a solution. They allow the teacher to see how the children are
thinking, what they understand and what level they are operating at.
Obviously they are best asked after the children have had time to make
progress with the problem, to record some findings and perhaps achieved at
least one solution.
Examples:
What have you discovered?
How did you find that out?
Why do you think that?
What made you decide to do it that way?

4. Final discussion questions

These questions draw together the efforts of the class and prompt sharing
and comparison of strategies and solutions. This is a vital phase in the
mathematical thinking processes. It provides further opportunity for reflection
and realisation of mathematical ideas and relationships. It encourages children
to evaluate their work.
Examples:
Who has the same answer/ pattern/ grouping as this?
Who has a different solution?
Are everybody's results the same?
Why/why not?
Have we found all the possibilities?
How do we know?
Have you thought of another way this could be done?
Do you think we have found the best solution?

Levels of Mathematical Thinking

Another way to categorise questions is according to the level of thinking they
are likely to stimulate, using a hierarchy such as Bloom's taxonomy (Bloom,
1956). Bloom classified thinking into six levels: Memory (the least rigorous),
Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation (requiring the
highest level of thinking). Sanders (1966) separated the Comprehension level
into two categories, Translation and Interpretation, to create a seven level
taxonomy which is quite useful in mathematics. As you will see as you read
through the summary below, this hierarchy is compatible with the four
categories of questions already discussed.

1. Memory: The student recalls or memorises information

2. Translation: The student changes information into a different symbolic
form or language
3. Interpretation: The student discovers relationships among facts,
generalisations, definitions, values and skills
4. Application: The student solves a life-like problem that requires
identification of the issue and selection and use of appropriate generalisations
and skills
5. Analysis: The student solves a problem in the light of conscious knowledge
of the parts of the form of thinking.
6. Synthesis: The student solves a problem that requires original, creative
thinking
7. Evaluation: The student makes a judgement of good or bad, right or wrong,
according to the standards he values.

Types of questions to avoid:

Overlaid questions: Sometimes teachers in the midst of asking question find

that the question is not specific enough to elicit the desired response the
teacher extends the question to make it clear. Eg What method shall we use
to solve this problem, and that will make our solution elegant?
Multiple question: Asking two related questions in sequence without allowing
for a student respond until both of the questions have been asked. Eg Which
triangles should we prove congruent , and how will they help us prove AB
parallel to CD

Factual Questions: What is the Pythagorean Theorem? Such type of

questions are not bad but they contribute little to make an active learning
environment in the classroom.

Elliptical questions: Questions that are unclear because the teacher has
omitted specifics and these questions offer nothing to the lesson eg How
about these two angles?

Yes-No or Guessing Questions: These have little value. Eg Is AB

perpendicular to CD? A student attempting to answer this question takes a
very small risk. You can change it to be What is the relationship between AB
and CD. Is triangle ABC isosceles?

Ambiguous questions: Questions that require different correct. eg How

does the law of sines differ from the law of cosines. Some will think the
difference in appearance of the two laws, the difference in application, the
difference in derivation. The question can be rephrased as Under what
different circumstances are the laws of sines and cosines used.

Chorus Response Questions: The chorus response often provides little

value to the lesson. Eg What type of quadrilateral is ABCD, class?

Whiplash Questions: questions not planned by the teacher. It comes about

when a teacher decides to make a question out of a statement midway
through it. Eg The slope of this line is , what? We now have AB parallel to
CD because of which theorem?

Leading questions: Is one that tugs the desired response from the student
eg Seven is a factor of 35, isn’t it?. Students are not provoked in thinking

Teacher Centered Questions: Yes teacher is part of the class however

teacher must use first personal plural , we, us eg Give me the solution set
of 3x-5 = 2

5.5 The Role of Mathematics teachers in the Teaching Skills

These skills require you as a teacher to consider in your lesson planning and
presentation. Teachers need to be aware that skills are for better
communication in a classroom. Good explanation, positive reinforcement,
questioning facilitates effective learning of mathematics. Most activities done
in the classrooms require clear communication and effective questioning for
deep understanding of information. communication in a classroom. good
explanation, positive reinforcement, questioning facilitates effective learning
of mathematics. Most activities done in the classrooms require clear
communication and effective questioning for deep understanding of
information.

Activity 3
Discuss in groups what mathematics teachers need to consider when using
the communication skills for teaching.

You will agree that without such skills effective teaching could not take place.
Teachers who understand the importance of such skills are able to motivate
their students. The challenges mathematics cause to some students could be
rectified if teachers consider such skills when planning lessons.

Unit Assessment

1. Which teaching skill(s) will you consider most when conducting group
work for your students.
2. Write down the components of the skill of
a) Explanation
b) Closure
c) Reinforcement
3. When teaching the topic construction in form two, which skill(s) will be
most appropriate.
4. Briefly describe why a teacher is supposed to summarize a lesson.
5. Explain what mathematics teachers have to consider when teaching the
theorem: The angle in which the chord and tangent make at the point of
contact is equal to the angle in the alternate segment.

Summary
The teaching skills need to be considered by all aspiring teachers to make
their lessons more effective. It’s not easy to develop such skills however with
time you experience them as the core of teaching. For beginners these skills
need to be practiced each one separately for masterly. In the next unit you
will be introduced to assessment which is also another important aspect of
teaching effective mathematics.
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
1. Verbal-linguistic intelligence (well-developed verbal skills and
sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words)
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence (ability to think conceptually and
abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns)
3. Spatial-visual intelligence (capacity to think in images and pictures, to
visualize accurately and abstractly)
4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (ability to control one’s body movements
and to handle objects skillfully)
5. Musical intelligences (ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch
and timber)
6. Interpersonal intelligence (capacity to detect and respond appropriately
to the moods, motivations and desires of others)
7. Intrapersonal (capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings,
values, beliefs and thinking processes)
8. Naturalist intelligence (ability to recognize and categorize plants,
animals and other objects in nature)
9. Existential intelligence (sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions
about human existence such as, What is the meaning of life? Why do we
die? How did we get here?
(Source: Thirteen ed online, 2004)
Human Potential
Human potential can be tied to one’s preferences to learning; thus, Gardner’s
focus on human potential lies in the fact that people have a unique blend of
capabilities and skills (intelligences). This model can be used to understand
“overall personality, preferences and strengths” ([Link], n.d.).
Gardner asserts that people who have an affinity toward one of the
intelligences
do so in concert with the other intelligences as “they develop skills and solve
problems” ([Link], 2009). People have different strengths and
intelligences. For example, students who are “interviewed” as a means to
gain access to a course may be mis-labeled as being less than desirable
because of inappropriate assessment (poorly written interview questions, bias
toward a perceived “perfect student,” and other narrow criteria). “In life, we
need people who collectively are good at different things. A wellbalanced
world, and well-balanced organizations and teams, are necessarily comprised
of people who possess different mixtures of intelligences. This gives that
group a fuller collective capacity than a group of identical able
specialists”([Link], 2009). Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory
can be used for curriculum development, planning instruction, selection of
course activities, and related assessment strategies. Instruction which is
designed to help students develop their strengths can also trigger their
confidence to develop areas in which they are not as strong. Students’
multiple learning preferences can be addressed when instruction includes a
range of meaningful and appropriate methods, activities, and assessments.
Summary
In summary, integrate educational theories, teaching strategies, and other
pedagogic tools in meaningful and useful ways to better address the needs of
students. Gardner himself asserts that educators should not follow one
specific
theory or educational innovation when designing instruction but instead
employ
customized goals and values appropriate to their teaching and student needs.
Addressing the multiple intelligences and potential of students can help
instructors personalize their instruction and methods of assessment

Lesson planning
Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning

A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and
how it will be done effectively during the class time. Before you plan your
lesson, you will first need to identify the learning objectives for the class
meeting. Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop
strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. A successful lesson plan
addresses and integrates these three key components:

 Objectives for student learning

 Teaching/learning activities
 Strategies to check student understanding

Specifying concrete objectives for student learning will help you determine
the kinds of teaching and learning activities you will use in class, while those
activities will define how you will check whether the learning objectives have
been accomplished (see Fig. 1).
Steps for Preparing a Lesson Plan

Below are six steps to guide you when you create your first lesson plans.
Each step is accompanied by a set of questions meant to prompt reflection
and aid you in designing your teaching and learning activities.

(1) Outline learning objectives

The first step is to determine what you want students to learn and be able to
do at the end of class. To help you specify your objectives for student
learning, answer the following questions:

 What is the topic of the lesson?

 What do I want students to learn?
 What do I want them to understand and be able to do at the end of class?
 What do I want them to take away from this particular lesson?

Once you outline the learning objectives for the class meeting, rank them in
terms of their importance. This step will prepare you for managing class time
and accomplishing the more important learning objectives in case you are
pressed for time. Consider the following questions:

 What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills I want students to be
able to grasp and apply?
 Why are they important?
 If I ran out of time, which ones could not be omitted?
 And conversely, which ones could I skip if pressed for time?
(2) Develop the introduction

Now that you have your learning objectives in order of their importance,
design the specific activities you will use to get students to understand and
apply what they have learned. Because you will have a diverse body of
students with different academic and personal experiences, they may already
be familiar with the topic. That is why you might start with a question or
activity to gauge students’ knowledge of the subject or possibly, their
preconceived notions about it. For example, you can take a simple poll: “How
many of you have heard of X? Raise your hand if you have.” You can also
gather background information from your students prior to class by sending
students an electronic survey or asking them to write comments on index
cards. This additional information can help shape your introduction, learning
activities, etc. When you have an idea of the students’ familiarity with the
topic, you will also have a sense of what to focus on.

Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and

encourage thinking. You can use a variety of approaches to engage students
(e.g., personal anecdote, historical event, thought-provoking dilemma, real-
world example, short video clip, practical application, probing question, etc.).
Consider the following questions when planning your introduction:

 How will I check whether students know anything about the topic or have
any preconceived notions about it?
 What are some commonly held ideas (or possibly misconceptions) about
this topic that students might be familiar with or might espouse?
 What will I do to introduce the topic?
(3) Plan the specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson)

Prepare several different ways of explaining the material (real-life examples,

analogies, visuals, etc.) to catch the attention of more students and appeal to
different learning styles. As you plan your examples and activities, estimate
how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for extended explanation
or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different
applications or problems, and to identify strategies that check for
understanding. These questions would help you design the learning activities
you will use:

 What will I do to explain the topic?

 What will I do to illustrate the topic in a different way?
 How can I engage students in the topic?
 What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations that
can help students understand the topic?
 What will students need to do to help them understand the topic better?
(4) Plan to check for understanding

Now that you have explained the topic and illustrated it with different
examples, you need to check for student understanding – how will you know
that students are learning? Think about specific questions you can ask
students in order to check for understanding, write them down, and then
paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different
ways. Try to predict the answers your questions will generate. Decide on
whether you want students to respond orally or in writing. You can look
at Strategies to Extend Student
Thinking, [Link] to help you generate some
ideas and you can also ask yourself these questions:
 What questions will I ask students to check for understanding?
 What will I have students do to demonstrate that they are following?
 Going back to my list of learning objectives, what activity can I have
students do to check whether each of those has been accomplished?

An important strategy that will also help you with time management is to
anticipate students’ questions. When planning your lesson, decide what kinds
of questions will be productive for discussion and what questions might
sidetrack the class. Think about and decide on the balance between covering
content (accomplishing your learning objectives) and ensuring that students
understand.

(5) Develop a conclusion and a preview

Go over the material covered in class by summarizing the main points of the
lesson. You can do this in a number of ways: you can state the main points
yourself (“Today we talked about…”), you can ask a student to help you
summarize them, or you can even ask all students to write down on a piece of
paper what they think were the main points of the lesson. You can review the
students’ answers to gauge their understanding of the topic and then explain
anything unclear the following class. Conclude the lesson not only by
summarizing the main points, but also by previewing the next lesson. How
does the topic relate to the one that’s coming? This preview will spur
students’ interest and help them connect the different ideas within a larger
context.

(6) Create a realistic timeline

GSIs know how easy it is to run out of time and not cover all of the many
points they had planned to cover. A list of ten learning objectives is not
realistic, so narrow down your list to the two or three key concepts, ideas, or
skills you want students to learn. Instructors also agree that they often need
to adjust their lesson plan during class depending on what the students need.
Your list of prioritized learning objectives will help you make decisions on the
spot and adjust your lesson plan as needed. Having additional examples or
alternative activities will also allow you to be flexible. A realistic timeline will
reflect your flexibility and readiness to adapt to the specific classroom
environment. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

 Estimate how much time each of the activities will take, then plan some
extra time for each
 When you prepare your lesson plan, next to each activity indicate how
much time you expect it will take
 Plan a few minutes at the end of class to answer any remaining questions
and to sum up key points
 Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case you have time left
 Be flexible – be ready to adjust your lesson plan to students’ needs and
focus on what seems to be more productive rather than sticking to your
original plan
Presenting the Lesson Plan

Letting your students know what they will be learning and doing in class will
help keep them more engaged and on track. You can share your lesson plan
by writing a brief agenda on the board or telling students explicitly what they
will be learning and doing in class. You can outline on the board or on a
handout the learning objectives for the class. Providing a meaningful
organization of the class time can help students not only remember better,
but also follow your presentation and understand the rationale behind in-class
activities. Having a clearly visible agenda (e.g., on the board) will also help
you and students stay on track.

Reflecting on Your Lesson Plan

A lesson plan may not work as well as you had expected due to a number of
extraneous circumstances. You should not get discouraged – it happens to
even the most experienced teachers! Take a few minutes after each class to
reflect on what worked well and why, and what you could have done
differently. Identifying successful and less successful organization of class
time and activities would make it easier to adjust to the contingencies of the
classroom. For additional feedback on planning and managing class time, you
can use the following resources: student feedback, peer observation, viewing
a videotape of your teaching, and consultation with a staff member at CRLT).

Conclusion

To be effective, the lesson plan does not have to be an exhaustive document

that describes each and every possible classroom scenario. Nor does it have
to anticipate each and every student’s response or question. Instead, it should
provide you with a general outline of your teaching goals, learning objectives,
and means to accomplish them. It is a reminder of what you want to do and
how you want to do it. A productive lesson is not one in which everything
goes exactly as planned, but one in which both students and instructor learn
from each other.

Developing learning goals and success criteria.

In the development of Learning Goals and Success Criteria, teachers can very
meaningfully merge mathematical content and practice standards. How
students will engage with mathematics (i.e., practice standards) should be
reflected just as much as what mathematics they will learn (i.e., content
standards).

Learning goals Success criteria

Describe what learning students are Describe what students need to say,
to develop (an understanding, do, make, or write to show that they
principled knowledge, skill, or a have met the goal (i.e., what is the
process) as a result of this lesson. performances of a skill,
understanding, etc.?).
Start with a verb (e.g., develop, Start with a verb (e.g., explain,
become fluent, apply, understand). describe, model).The Practice
The Practice Standards contain Standards contain many such verbs
many such verbs and are a valuable and are a valuable resource in
resource in articulating and phrasing articulating and phrasing
Learning Goals.
Be sure that the learning goal is Be sure that the Success Criteria are
manageable within the context of aligned with the Learning Goal, and
one lesson are indications of achievement of the
Goal.
Write in language that is Write in language that is
understandable to students. understandable to students so they
can use the criteria to monitor their
own learning.

Schemes of Work and Lesson Plan

TEACHING/
TEACHING/LEA
SUCCESS PLANNED LEARNING
WEEK/DATE RNING& REFERENCES OUTCOMES REMARKS
CRITERIA ACTIVITIES &ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT
METHOD
RESOURCES
Appendix B

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN

TOPIC :

Institution:
Student Teacher’s name:
Subject:
CoreElement:
Unit/Topic: Form:
LessonTopic: Duration: from to
Date: No in Class

Rationale:

Success Criteria: ( at least 2)

Prerequisite Knowledge:

Teaching / Learning Materials:

TEACHER ACTIVITY STUDENT ACTIVITY Learning Points

Introduction ( 5 minutes)

DEVELOPMENT

Conclusion: ( 5minutes)

Evaluation:
TEACHING/
TEACHING/LEA
SUCCESS LEARNING
WEEK/DATE PLANNED ACTIVITIES RNING& REFERENCES OUTCOMES REMARKS
CRITERIA &ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT
METHOD
RESOURCES

Week 2 Learners Core Element:

6- 10 must be Statistics
March able to: - Topic: statistics Cambridge
Practical Charts Study and
Organise  Collectin Groupwork Rulers master
data g data Question and Mathematica students’
Classfyi answer l instruments book 1, pp
Present ng data Explanation Calculator 214-227
data in  Drawing Graph paper
charts bar
charts Thomo,F
 Drawing (2013).
histogra Excel and
m succeed:
 Drawing Form 1, pp
pie 160-166
charts
Model Lesson Plan
Lesson: Plotting Points on a Cartesian Plane

Institution: Mzuni
Student teacher’s Name: C Mpewe
Subject : Mathematics
CoreElement: Patterns, relations, functions and change
Unit/Topic: Coordinate Geometry Class: Form1
LessonTopic: Plotting points on a Cartesian plane Duration: 80 minutes
Date:

Rationale: This topic is a foundation for the study of graphs and its relationships in real world

Success Criteria:

a) Describing positions
b) Locating points
Prerequisite Knowledge: Linear equations, number patterns, algebraic expressions, number line

Teaching / Learning Materials: Sheets of paper, school map, sitting arrangements, post office boxes, bawo,
chess, school assembly, soldiers parades

TEACHER ACTIVITY STUDENT ACTIVITY Learning Points

Introduction ( 5 minutes)

Ask learners to state location of Learners describe the positions of their Describing locations
their home and school; and homes in relation to the school and
extend this to structures within the some fixed positions
school.

DEVELOPMENT
(20 minutes)
Let learners describe the set-up
of a classroom. Learners describe the arrangement of Stating and describing
the classroom. positions
Have learners state other places
or objects where a similar Learners state other similar
arrangement is observed. arrangements they might have seen.

Identifies the position of a learner Learners locate positions of fellow

in a sitting plan and let learners learners using columns and rows. Identifying positions using
locate the row and column . columns and rows

Learners identifying positions of

sitting arrangements in columns and
rows
(10 minutes) Learners discuss and indicate numbers Locating numbers on
Prepare sheets of grids with in marked points marked points
marked points A, B, C and D in
columns and rows and asks
learners to write numbers in the
marked points.

( 10 minutes) Learners draw grids and allocate as

Have learners draw grids in many points as possible in columns
their note books and asked to and rows.
allocate numbers in columns and
rows.

(15 minutes) Describe positions of the points Describing positions relative

Have learners to describe allocated on the grids relative to a to origin
positions relative to a given fixed fixed point.
point(origin).

Plotting points
Learners are given points such Plot given points.
as (1,0); (-1,3); (2,-4) ;(-3,1) and
asked to plot with reference to the
origin.

Identification of axes
(15 minutes) Scaling
Have learners identify vertical Learners identify horizontal and Plotting points
and horizontal axes on the grids. vertical axes

Asks learners to plot points Learners plot points on the Cartesian

A(1,3); B(-3,5); plane
C(-2,1);D(0,-4) on the Cartesian
plane in groups and individually.
Conclusion: ( 5minutes)
Summarises the lesson by asking Summarises the lesson by stating Locating and
learners based on the major points major points covered in the lesson. Plotting points
covered in the lesson.

Evaluation: