Hands-On Quotation
It is important that we teachers actively involve our students in their learning. This is evident with a constructivist approach to learning (elaborated on in a future posting). In my mathematics units, ESM210 and ESM310, we discussed students being hands-on to physically handle manipulatives, including the use of a SmartBoard where these circumstances are possible. A quotation that I came across in my mathematics textbook is a Chinese proverb which I absolutely love: 'I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand' (Reys et al. 2012, p.25). This quotation summarises the importance of all students being hands-on in their learning; to actively construct meaning. An example I saw in a Grade 1 class was when perimeter was first introduced. The teacher explained that perimeter is the measurement around something. In relation to the Chinese proverb, if the teacher had simply explained it and then moved on, chances are, students would not have remembered what perimeter was. To actively involve students in learning about perimeter, students used informal units (icy pole sticks) to measure around their exercise books. This actively constructed their meaning as to what perimeter was - the measurement around an object. So, for example, say one child measured 12 icy pole sticks, this represents the perimeter around his exercise book. This short example shows how students have constructed (or made; formed; developed) meaning on the concept of perimeter. By students actively engaging in their learning by teacher facilitating the learning, students have begun to understand that perimeter is about measuring around a 2D object. As a sidenote, it would have been interesting to see how this teacher continued on with developing the concept of perimeter and how he progressed the lessons to eventually get students to measure perimeter with formal units (mm, cm) through the use of a ruler.
The following link is about why informal units are used in primary school classrooms.
