Friday, August 17, 2012

Outdoor Mathematics

Should our students always learn mathematics inside the classroom? Could they learn it outside? For students to learn mathematics effectively and successfully, they must be interested and love to study mathematics. In addition, they must be involved. Therefore, good teachers should be able to select and use suitable methods. Outdoor mathematics can be defined as mathematics teaching and learning process which is held outside the classroom. That learning process with its activities will help students to connect and apply their knowledge to their world and to other subjects. Bringing learning material inside is better than doing nothing. However, there are still limited approaches for outdoor mathematics, and the students are still trapped inside the classroom.

Why is Outdoor Mathematics important?
Mathematics becomes more powerful and meaningful when we go outside the classroom and begin to use it as a tool for studying other things. Moss (2007) states that if a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult with whom he can share it, rediscover with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world they live in. Students are naturally curious about the world around them and enjoy using mathematics to help them understand their world; from measuring their height and weight, dividing cookies, and playing games. Therefore, mathematics is a natural part of their world. By means of this natural curiosity, they are able to construct mathematical knowledge through both psychological and sociocultural perspectives of constructivism.

Outdoor mathematics experiences not only help learners to see connections between mathematics and other disciplines, but also help learners feel more connected to their natural world. In addition, if they have been guided by teachers in applying mathematics in real situations outside the classroom, the students are more likely to successfully retain and use parts of their knowledge; and finally they can apply it to their own needs.

As mathematics teachers at primary school, we have experienced that there are many mathematics classes that are not easy to handle in the classroom. Won‟t they be even more difficult outside? Tran Vui (2001) writes that the most important principle, students may feel “difficult” is if they are not interested in what they are doing. When students have already judged that something is useful, then the subject problems largely disappear. Students need to know clearly what is expected from them. This is the teacher‟s normal task to ensure that the class is properly organized, after the discussion in which a real notice has been taken based on the students‟ input.

Another question has been raised by Tran Vui (2001) that is: “Can all of mathematics be taught this way?” It could be said that the outdoor approach will give a chance to acquire various mathematical skills and techniques. There are so many ways of doing mathematics outside the classroom than one can imagine. 

Outdoor Mathematics in Teacher Training
Teachers need to experience mathematics in ways that they will be expected to teach it; they need to experience outdoor mathematics in the natural world. Teachers are more likely to implement outdoor activities in their own classes if they have experienced it in their own learning experiences.

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