Learning Principles

in MATHEMATICS

Alva Q. Aberin, PhD

Ateneo de Manila University
maberin@ateneo.edu
 The way we learned
Mathematics before is different
from how students learn it now.
 Some mathematical myths

• The Gender Myth

• Boys perform better in math

than girls. Or that good
mathematicians are all men.
 Some mathematical myths

• The Math Gene Myth or the

Math Mind Myth

• Some people are born with a

math gene.
 Some mathematical myths

• The Math is all Logic Myth

• Math is all about logic and
intuition nor creativity are not
needed in learning
mathematics.
 Some mathematical myths

• The Using-Tools-Is-Cheating
Myth

• Good mathematicians don’t use

fingers, toes and calculators.
Counting on your fingers is bad.
 Some mathematical myths

• The Who Needs it Anyway

Myth
• Math is useful only to
mathematicians.
 Some mathematical myths

• The One Way Myth

• There is only one way to solve

a math problem.
 Some mathematical myths

• The Speed Myth

• Math is all about speed.

 Learning Mathematics

• more than having the

ability to compute and
perform algorithms and
procedures.
 Learning Mathematics

• The goal of mathematics

education is to develop a
mathematically empowered
citizenry which entails

developing critical and

analytical thinking
skills.
 Critical Thinking and Analytical
Thinking

Involve
• problem solving,
• communicating mathematically,
• reasoning and
• making mathematical
connections.
On making connections

• Solving quadratic inequalities

Non-routine problems
• One hundred students are assigned lockers 1 through
100.
• The student assigned to locker number 1 opens all 100
lockers.
• The student assigned to locker number 2 then closes all
lockers whose numbers are multiples of 2.
• The student assigned to locker number 3 changes the
status of all lockers whose numbers are multiples of 3
(e.g. locker number 3, which is open gets closed, locker
number 6, which is closed, gets opened). The student
assigned to locker number 4 changes the status of all
locker whose numbers are multiples of 4, and so on for
all 100 lockers.
Now,

• Which lockers will be left open?

• How many lockers, and which ones, were

touched exactly twice? How do you know?

• Which students touched both lockers 36 and

48? How do you know?
 Learning Principles

1. Principle of Active
Engagement
2. Principle of Hands-on
Experience
3. Principle of Relevance and
Context
 Learning Principles

4. Principle of Reflection
5. Principle of Discovery and
Inquiry
6. Principle of collaboration
7. Principle of mathematical
environment
Try out some of these principles

Tangram Challenge

Number Arrangement
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
 The Questioning Skills

Closed Questions

Open Questions
 The Questioning Skills

Open Questions
=
Good Questions
 The Questioning Skills

Method 1 : Working Backward

• 1) Identify a topic
• 2) Think of a closed question
and write down the answer.
• 3) Make up a question that
includes the answer
 The Questioning Skills

• Topic – Averages
• Closed Question – The children
in the Santos family are 3, 8, 9,
10 and 15. What is their
average age?
• Answer - The average age is 9.
 The Questioning Skills

• Good question – There are five

children in the Santos family.
Their average age is 9. How old
might the children be?
 The Questioning Skills

Step 1 – Step 2 - Think Step 3 – Make

Identify a of closed up a good
topic question and question that
an answer includes the
answer
Area 6 cm2 How many
triangles can
you draw each
with an area of
6 cm2?
 The Questioning Skills

Step 1 – Step 2 - Think Step 3 – Make

Identify a of closed up a good
topic question and question that
an answer includes the
answer
Fractions 3½ Two numbers
are multiplied
to give 3 ½ .
What might the
numbers be?
 –
Step 1 The Questioning Step 3 – Make
Step 2 - Think Skills
Identify a of closed up a good
topic question and question that
an answer includes the
answer
Money Php 35 I bought some
things at the
market and got
a change of
Php 35. What
did I buy and
how much did
each item
cost?
 The Questioning Skills

• Method 2: Adapting a Standard

Question
• 1) Identify a topic
• 2) Think of a standard
question.
• 3) Adapt it to make a good
question.
 The Questioning Skills

• Topic – Measurement using

nonstandard units
• Standard Question – What is
the length of your table
measured in handspans?
• Good question – Can you find
an object that is three
handspans long?
Step 1 – Identify a Step 2 - Think Step 3 – Adapt it to
topic The Questioning Skills
of a standard make a good
question question .
Addition 387 + 456 On a trip I was
working out some
distances. I spilt some
softdrink on my paper
and some numbers
disappeared. My paper
looked like this
3?7
+??6
----------
79?
What might the missing
numbers be?
Role of Affect in Learning

• Feelings
• Beliefs
• Attitudes
 What is motivation about?
• It …
is all the reasons behind why we behave
as we do.

is what moves us to action, why we start,

go on with or stop an activity.

includes internal processes and external

incentives that spur us to satisfy a need.
MOTIVATION and LEARNING

• Motivation can affect new learning and

the performance of previously learned
skills.
• Motivation can influence what, when,
and how we learn (Schunk,1995).
• Motivation bears a reciprocal relation to
learning and performance
(Pintrich,2003).
Some Motivational Theories
A. Behavioral theories
 Connectionism
 Classical Conditioning
 Operant conditioning

• Such theories view motivation as a change in

the rate, frequency of occurrence of a behavior
as a function of environmental events and
stimuli.
Classroom Implications:

• Ensure that students have the readiness to

learn.
• Help students form associations between
stimuli and responses.
• Associate learning and classroom activities with
pleasing outcomes.
• Reinforce desired behaviors and extinguish
undesired ones.
B. Arousal Theories
 View motivation in terms of emotions and that
motivation depends strongly on affective
processes.
Classroom Implications:

• Maintain motivation in optimal level; avoid

periods of boredom and high anxiety.
• Incorporate novelty and incongruity into
teaching and student activities.
• Develop in students positive emotions about
learning rather than uncertainty.
C. Humanistic Theories
 Emphasize holistic understanding of how people
behave
 Emphasize having positive regard of students
and meaningful learning.
Classroom Implications:

• Show positive regard for students.

• Separate students from their actions.
• Encourage personal growth by providing
students with choices to initiate learning
activities and establish goals.
• Facilitate learning by providing students with
resources and encouragement.
Meeting Student Needs :
The three As
• Affiliation
 The need to feel a sense of belonging
 “I belong”
• Agency
 The need to feel that one can meet a demand.
 “I can”
• Autonomy
 The need to be self-determining
 “My way”
How motivating is my classroom?
Do I … Never Sometimes Mostly Always

1) Like teaching this class? 0 1 2 3

2) Try to get to know pupils as a 0 1 2 3
person?
3) Help everyone feel like they 0 1 2 3
belong in this class?
4) Let the class have fun and 0 1 2 3
laugh?
5) Help pupils sort things out if 0 1 2 3
they get upset?
6) Let the class have fun and 0 1 2 3
laugh?
 Do I … Never Sometimes Mostly Always

1) Make sure pupils know what 0 1 2 3

to do?
2) Make the lessons relevant and 0 1 2 3
interesting?
3) Encourage them to develop 0 1 2 3
their own interests?
4) Let them choose how to do 0 1 2 3
their work?
5) Encourage them to try more 0 1 2 3
difficult work?
6) Let them know there are 0 1 2 3
different ways to do well?
 Do I … Never Sometimes Mostly Always

1) Notice and tell when they work hard and 0 1 2 3

do well?
2) Help them put their progress down to hard 0 1 2 3
work?
3) Praise achievements, other than work, for 0 1 2 3
example, helping others?
4) Look at how they are doing without 0 1 2 3
comparing to others?
5) Treat mistakes as a good way to learn? 0 1 2 3
6) Encourage pupils to work out how much 0 1 2 3
they’re learning?
Total Score Classification
0 – 10 Low
11 – 21 Slightly Low
22 – 32 Moderate
33 – 43 Above Moderate
44 – 54 High
A typical math lesson plan:
• Review yesterday’s assignment

• Introduce a new lesson.

• Have students begin the next

assignment.
The 3Ds
• Dull
• Deadly
• Destructive of all interest
The Art of Teaching

• Teachers must know our stuff.

• They must know the pupils
whom they are stuffing.
• Above all else, they must know
how to stuff them artistically.
1. Start the class in an interesting
way.
On measurement
I have decided to count to one million.
How long will it take me?

What historical event happened approximately 1

billion seconds ago?

If I were to measure the distance from Manila to

Baguio using Php 1000-bills, how much money
should I use?
2. Make use of Technology

• Multiple representations
 Figures
 Expressions

• Exploration
• Discovery
• Example: Geogebra software (for free)
3. Show uses of Mathematics.

• Such as cryptology
Coding

• Cryptology - the science of encoding and

decoding messages.

 Design and analyze complex algorithms

 Express difficult cryptographic problems in
Mathematic terms
• For example, if each letter were
shifted 2 places, the word MATH
is encoded as OCVJ since
• M shifts to O,
• A shifts to C,
• T shifts to V and
• H shifts to J.
A SIMPLE CODE

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

OPQRSTUVWXYZ
 ENCODE THIS MESSAGE:

I AM A MATH TEACHER

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ
 ENCODE THIS MESSAGE:

I AM A MATH TEACHER
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ
K*CO*C*OCVJ*VGCEJGT
… WITH A PROBLEM

ABCDEFG
HIJKLMN
OPQRSTU
VWXYZ
To remedy this …

• A New Formula
Instead of simply adding 2, we need
to add 2 and then apply modular
arithmetic. In modular arithmetic, you
divide by the modular base and the
remainder after dividing is your
answer.
• In our coding example we use the new formula ,
• y = (X+2) (mod 26)

• This means that when we increase "Z" by 2, it's

numerical equivalent does not become 28, but
rather the remainder of the division

28 ÷ 26, which is 2.
New code
DECODE THIS MESSAGE
• SYKB *VQFCA*UVYFA

• QUIZ TODAY STUDY

Easy to break ?
4. Use of Manipulatives
 Tangrams

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/
cb/Tangram_set_00.jpg/300px-Tangram_set_00.jpg
Tangrams
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
Attribute Puzzle
5. Use Problem Solving

 Trial and Error

Make a List, Table,
Working Backwards
Spicing up the drill time:
Place the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 into each box such
the vertical sum is equal to the horizontal sum.
Spicing up the drill time:
Place the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 into each box such
the vertical sum is equal to the horizontal sum.

3 1 4

5
Spicing up the drill time:
Fill in the boxes with digits 1,2, …,9 to make a
correct sum.
Spicing up the drill time:
Fill in the boxes with digits 1,2, …,9 to make a
correct sum.

1 5 2

4 8 7

6 3 9
Spicing up the drill time:
Fill in the boxes with digits 0,1,2, …,9 to make a
correct sum.
Spicing up the drill time:
Fill in the boxes with digits 0,1,2, …,9 to make a
correct sum.

3 4 2
7 5 6

1 0 9 8
A Practical Problem

Mang Ruben has only an 11-liter can and a 5-liter

can. How can he measure out exactly 7 liters of
water?
Answer

• Fill up the 11-liter can and transfer 5 liters into

the 5-liter can. Empty the 5-liter can.
• Pour the remaining 6 liters into the 5-liter can.
Empty the 5 liter can.
• Pour the remaining liter into the 5-liter can.
• Fill up the 11-liter can again. Pour 4 liters of it
into the 5-liter can that has 1 liter in it.
• What’s left in the 11-liter can is 7 liters.
A Counting Problem

How many
squares of all
sizes are in a 8x8
checkerboard?
Answer

• There is 1 8x8 square.

• There are 4 7x7 squares.
• There are 9 6x6 squares.
• There are 16 5x5 squares.
• There are 25 4x4 squares.
• There are 36 3x3 squares.
• There are 49 2x2 squares.
• There are 64 1x1 squares.
• 1+4+9+16+25+36+49+64=204 squares
A Coding Problem

Solve the following cryptarithms. In each problem,

letters represent a single digit only.
a. (HE)2 = SHE

b. W R O N G
+W R O N G
---------------
R I GHT
Answer

• 252 =625

• 12734
+1 2 7 3 4
25468

Can you find more?

A Pattern Problem

Find the units digit for the sum

1325 + 481 + 5411.
Answer
• 131=13
• 132=169
• 133=2197
• 134=28561
• 135=371293
• Therefore, 1325 has 3 as its units digit
• 41=4, 42=16, 43=64, 44=256.
• Therefore, 481 has 4 as its units digit.
• Any power of 5 has 5 as its units digit.
• 3+4+5=12. Therefore, the sum has 2 as its units
digit.
6. Show the beauty of
Mathematics
From Carl Friedrich Gauss

• As quoted in Gauss zum

Gedächtniss (1856) by
Wolfgang Sartorius von
Waltershausen:

Mathematics
is the Queen of
Sciences
What a Queen is

• A ruler
• Important
• Powerful
• Beautiful
• Elegant
MATHEMATICS RULES
OUR LIVES
 Hidden in the Bible
are codes that reveal
details about
important events in
Mathematics Rules!
the world!
Mathematics
Rules!
When we talk of
money, wealth,
financial stability,
income, capacity to
pay, debts, credit,
strength of the peso,
etc., mathematics
has to be used
 Mathematics Rules!
Even in designing our buildings, mathematics
lords it over any other field! The Ateneo de
Manila University’s Church of the Gesu pays
homage to the beauty and significance of the
triangle. Think Trinity!

Mathematics Rules!
http://forum.davidson.edu/mathmovemen
t/2010/08/17/bicyclekick/
At play, mathematics is
still very useful. Be it a
sport like basketball and
billiards or a tactical
game like Game of the
Generals, mathematics
is always there.
MATHEMATICS IS
IMPORTANT
Mathematics is important
Mathematics is always included in tests
Mathematics is important
Mathematics gives us tools to help solve problems
MATHEMATICS IS
POWERFUL
Mathematics is
Powerful
We have been able to explore the universe
and mathematics has a lot to do with it.
Mathematics is Powerful

Discoveries
about natural
phenomena and
relations between
quantities , have
been made
because of
mathematics.
MATHEMATICS IS ELEGANT
AND BEAUTIFUL
Mathematics is
Beautiful
Beautiful patterns in mathematics abound!
Mathematics is Beautiful
The Julia Fractal
Mathematics is Elegant
Proof without words!
6. Use History of Mathematics

• How symbols came to be

• Birthdays of Famous Mathematicians
 Nicolaus Copernicus – Feb. 19
 Georg Cantor – March 3
 Leonhard Euler – April 15
 Karl Friedrich Gauss - April 30
 Blaise Pascal - June 19
 Pierre de Fermat – August 20
 Isaac Newton – December 25
 Classroom Activities: Patterns
What algebraic ideas can be discovered from
these figures?
1 3 5
7
9
11

6  36
2
The sum of the first n odd integers is …

1 3 5
7
9
… 2n-1

2
n
Classroom Activities: Geometry
How does this show that the sum
of the measures of the three
angles is 180 degrees.
 Role of Technology in Learning

Calculators
Virtual Manipulatives
Math Software
• On Making Good Questions
 Create at least 2 good questions on the
different content strands
• Number and Number Sense
• Measurement
• Geometry
• Patterns and Algebra
• Statistics and Probability
Workshop

• On Principles of Learning

 Design an activity (lesson plan) that

illustrates any of the learning principles.
Happy Quote:

• Teaching:
We’re not in it for the income.
We’re in it for the outcome.
- George Takei
Which one is correct?

• 16 = ±4

• 16 = −4

• 16 = 4