Maths Assessment Books

[venuschan]

Thanks for quick reply. Yeah, what I want to know is the reasoning in applying divisional fractions and multiplying fractions to problem solving questions, not so much in the working procedures cause I think my daughter has no problem with working procedures but the underlying reason applying to the principle be it measurement model or partitive model.


For instance a child could do plus and minus, or big sums on division and times, but they may also have problems to apply the 4 mathematical skills to solve a thinking sum. I remembered I told her since young that multiple means plus the "same number" many times and vici versa to division. So I think I wish to adopt the same approach to her in this topic of divisional/multiplying fractions…(She is still young, yet young child learns pretty fast if we tell them rules and concepts and its application to real life).

I think what I need is pegagogical approach in this topic. Many thanks.

[optimistforum]

Has anyone tried the IQ Maths Lower Primary and IQ Maths Upper Primary - both by Sandhya Sundar. They are EPH publications. If yes, are they of any benefit?

[SAHM_TAN]

Hi,


Any parents come across algebra bks for primary school students? Thanks.

[Pinky Piglet]

Hi


Anyone has good recommendation for assessment on problem sums

[KSP]

Pinky Piglet:

Hi


Anyone has good recommendation for assessment on problem sums

these are very good assessment books for problem sums from P3-P6 :celebrate:

http://www.onsponge.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Primary_3_4ce76aba3bec8.jpg\">http://www.onsponge.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Primary_4_4ce76adbd8ebd.jpg\">http://www.onsponge.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Primary_5_4de23bcc8f6e4.jpg\">http://www.onsponge.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Primary_6_4ce76a6fd9413.jpg\">

[Pinky Piglet]

Hi KSP

I am using onsponge for my gal… But she still did badly for her section c

[KSP]

Pinky Piglet:

Hi KSP

I am using onsponge for my gal... But she still did badly for her section c

dd grasp the concepts from onsponge and practice them on other school paper... understanding the questions and applying the right method in section c as well as the speed in completing them are important.... i guess there is no short cut for this and i'm adopting the practice make perfect method.....

but dd is still trying to perfect it ... there are still careless mistakes here and there ..... :slapshead: :stupid:

[Pinky Piglet]

Hi

I agree with what you say the recent mock paper she lose a lot of marks from section c she learnt the concept before its just that when the question is being rephrase she don’t know how to apply the technique

[HAPPYH]

Pinky Piglet:

Hi

I agree with what you say the recent mock paper she lose a lot of marks from section c she learnt the concept before its just that when the question is being rephrase she don't know how to apply the technique

Every now and then, my DD also does this. By introducing different assessment books or more questions from various sources, I hope they will be used to different formatting.

[cimman]

rephrasing is a big problem with children. The root cause is that children are being trained to recognize problems using pattern recognition, ie. the logic, the phrasing and even the values has to be the same, before the child can recognize that it belongs to the same category of problems. What do I mean by values ? there are a number of problems where in the end, the value is zero, or the value is the same, or the value is a multiple of another value. Each of these value patterns requires a different way of processing the information.

This is an inefficient way of learning, since there are numerous ways that the problem sum can be stated and there are of course, different values in every problem. This is leads to a lot of drilling before a student can amass enough patterns to be effective.

Assessment books encourages this problem solving technique by giving multiple problems with the same value patterns, ie. zero values in the end, or same multiples of some other values, or the familiar unchanged difference, ie. Tom loses 3 units, Mary loses 3 units.

Students are not taught the basic principles of a certain class of problem and how it applies to the that specific class in all it’s permutations.

The basic principles are the formulas that must be applied to that class of problem.
ie. In Before - After type of problems, the formula is
Before + Transfer (or Change) = After.

It is a very simple formula, and most students would not even recognize it as a formula, but it is. If the student is able to truly understand the application of this formula, then the student would be free from pattern recognition techniques and would be able to apply first principles to solve all problems, no matter the phrasing or the logic flow or the values.

Take for example the familiar Work Backwards heuristic. It is called Work Backwards because the information to link an unknown variable to a given value, is given right at the end of the question. Does it really matter, if that information is given at the end, at the start or even in the middle of the problem statement? Yes, it does if you’re using heuristics. No, it doesn’t if you’re using first principles, ie. formula approach.

I’ve developed a technique, Table Heuristics, to solve these issues. It is a holistic framework for solving problems sums based on first principles. A large part of the framework involves problem interpretation, which involves a lot of English language comprehension. There is a visual tool for analysis, and algebra is used in the actual resolution. You’ll find that primary school maths is more about English comprehension than Maths.
Why algebra ? because it is abstract enough to provide a single method to solve all problem sums for a given formula. The problem with algebra is that students find it difficult to formulate equations. The conventional way of formulating equations is to mentally process the relationships and values and then write out the final equations on paper. This is a difficult exercise for students starting on algebra.
The Table Heuristics framework has a visual aid to help students formulate the equations. Bit by bit, they build up the equations on paper, not in their minds. This leads to less careless mistakes and a clearer more visual approach to see how relationships are linked.

If you’ve always wondered if all these different problem sums could be solved with a single consistent approach, then yes, it can be done. Is there an alternative to massive drilling ? yes, there is a more efficient method.