Turning math into a sport to solve problems

Turning math into a sport to solve problems

Students are taken through a step-by-step process, with escalating challenges as they develop greater fluency in pattern recognition and conceptual understanding of numbers

Developing mathematical skills is key to getting through school and college – and increasingly a key to success at workplace as well. Many school kids, because of lack of practice, seldom master these skills.

Why do kids who willingly spend hours on a sports ground fail to do even a fraction of that at home with their maths books? The answer is lack of an instant feedback mechanism, which is non-judgmental (which keeps you engaged in the sport) and the fear of failure.

Addressing these issues is an educational product – an online program called ‘First in Math’ – which seeks to convert fear of the subject into interest by turning it into a sport – with its emphasis on instruction, practice and rewards and with competitions across all levels in schools.

Mechanism

Students are taken through a step-by-step process with escalating challenges as they develop greater fluency in pattern recognition as well as conceptual understanding of numbers, measurement and other operations.

Robert Sun – Chairman, President and Chief Executive of Suntex International – creator of the First in Math online programme said tools such as digital games will enable students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. He draws an interesting parallel from history to highlight the impact of digital gaming.

He points to the spectacular success of the flight simulator in bringing down fatalities at aviation training schools.

The key, he said, is to be able to impart skills in a ‘low risk’ environment, and that his online math program draws inspiration from that philosophy. Robert is emphatic that practice is the key to success in math.

He says with a twinkle, “Asian students do not have any special gene that accounts for their success in math. It just boils down to practice.”

Reception by schools

The First in Math module has received a very good reception in the US, with over 6,000 schools adopting this programme. It has led to a dramatic rise in performance scores, he said.

About 30 schools across India (reaching about 23,500 students) have been trying out this programme for the past year, said Monica Patel, CEO of First In Math India (P) Ltd.

Source | Business Line | 10 December 2015