‘Practical examples can make Mathematics easy’
   Date :28-Apr-2019

 
 
By Vikas Vaidya:
 
 
 
Mathematics is a killer subject, that is what everybody says and is a general impression too. Some teachers of Mathematics feel that it involves logical thinking and only some students have ability to grasp. If a student finds Mathematics a difficult subject then should he or she drop it and opt other subject? Can it be the solution? Or are there some methods through which this so-called ‘killer’ subject can be taught? To know the answer to these questions ‘The Hitavada’ talked to some teachers of Mathematics of city schools, colleges, University departments. Panini Telang is known as teaching science taking students into the deep. He believes in teaching the basics of the subjects to make them understand in a better way. “They should be accustomed to graphical calculators.
 
 
 
 
If they start using it, the calculation part would become easy for them. Secondly, in most cases language is always neglected in Mathematics. Many people say there is no need of knowing language while teaching or learning Mathematics. It is not true. If students don’t understand the meaning of the mathematical word then they can not understand the whole concept. We also should teach students the Mathematics connecting them to the real life examples. There are chapters like derivatives or integration. Most of the students feel that these terms are useless in practical. This thinking of theirs gets developed because of the teachers who teach them. We need to explain them those terminologies in detail.” Teachers of Mathematics who teach in higher classes always argue, if foundation of Mathematics is not given proper attention at school-level, it becomes difficult to teach them at Under Graduate or Post Graduate level.
 
Refuting this charge Dr K C Deshmukh, senior teacher of Mathematics and former Head of Department of Mathematics, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), said, “Mathematics is very easy. Foundation of the Mathematics should be good is right. But that does not mean that students won’t be able to learn the subject in higher classes. There are two things-- how much interest does a teacher take while teaching Mathematics and how passionately students practice it. It is said Practice makes man perfect so I would say Practice makes Mathematics perfect.” Vasundhara Sathe, a teacher of Mathematics, got retired from Pandit Bachhraj Vyas Vidyalaya said, “We should connect Mathematics to our life. We draw a line so that terminology should be treated as life line.
 
This helps in learning the subject with keen interest. Integration is summed up in multiples so teach it to students in that way. If we teach on that line then the students would be able to understand Mathematics well,” pointed out Sathe. Shripad Deshpande, teaches Mathematics in Rajendra High School, Mahal focuses on increasing logical thinking of his students. He commented, “When we teach students the chapter Variation, they must know what the word means. There are lot of numericals, denominators involved in the subject and students should be able to convert the answer into mathematical language. I personally feel learning tables is not important. They should be able to do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with command.
 
If they know these four things then they can easily tell what number would come next in the respective table.” Manisha Ghare who conducts classes of Mathematics feels students must know the tables, squares, equations. According to her, language carries lot of importance. “I ask my students to utilise the summer time when they can learn basic things so that they would find Mathematics easier during their academic session. I am of the opinion that language plays vital role in Mathematics,” pointed out Ghare. Chandrashekhar Wankhede, a teacher of Mathematics in Royal Gondwana Public School has very much elaborative answer on the issue. He explained, “The digits keep increasing as far as volume is concerned which students visualise and then count them. This counting should be connected to the practical life. For example, if we teach them practical life stories while teaching it will make them understand Mathematics in a better way. This method can be applied at lower level.
 
At middle level, we assume that student knows basics. We introduce Algebra where language of Mathematics enters. Sentences are to be converted into mathematical language. For example, two friends are contributing to get the fund of Rs 100. Here their contributions can be in any variable. Here we use the term X for the contribution, so X is not a letter of English but it indicates some value.” Wankhede further put his point, “At higher level several activities are introduced as it is assumed that students know Algebra, they acquired subtraction, addition, multiplication, division so we introduce trigonometry. If we put the problem like-- we are standing at the bank of the river and we have to measure the distance of river upto other bank and height of the tree on other bank-- then they start calculating that too with so much interest. Mathematics has become boring because it has no connection with practical life. Take them deep into the situation and compel them to think on the problem. If Mathematics is taught in this way then nobody ever think of dropping Mathematics.”
 
Dr G S Khadekar, Dean of Science and Technology, RTMNU put the solution in a different way. He commented, “Teachers often face many obstacles in the classroom: a wide range in abilities, lack of support or resources, large class sizes, time constraints - the list goes on. Linked closely to building confidence is strengthening students' basic numerical skills. Giving students opportunities to practice and master essential skills for computational fluency is essential. It's a good idea to chunk material into smaller steps so that students are able to understand and master one step before moving to the next. Teacher's attitude towards Mathematics can have a huge influence. Just as we ask teachers to demonstrate a love for reading when it comes to literacy, we must also encourage students. Teachers are instrumental in creating positive and active learning environments, such as by incorporating Mathematics puzzles and games into explanations and examples.”