Mico study offers key to boosting students performance in math

A pilot research on mathematics, conducted by Mico University College’s Caribbean Centre of Excellence in Mathematics Teaching (CCEMaT), has revealed that building teachers’ knowledge and developing students’ problem-solving skills will positively impact performance in the subject area.

Shandelene Binns-Thompson, associate director of CCEMaT, said that the project indicated that factors which contribute to underachievement in mathematics include, but are not limited to, teachers’ inability to help students develop problem-solving skills; math teachers possessing limited subject knowledge that inhibits the effective development of mathematical concepts with students; students’ inability to decompose non-routine questions into algebraic form; employment of mostly teacher-centred approaches in the teaching and learning discourse; and students’ inability to read in the content area.

The project involved 840 students and 24 teachers from four primary schools in Kingston.

“It is easy to answer from recall knowledge, but students have to be trained how to systematically decompose questions into algebraic form. In order to develop mathematical concepts in students your knowledge as a teacher must go beyond the scope of what you’re teaching. Also, a good grasp of English A [language] is important in order to read and understand the questions,” she said yesterday while speaking at the press briefing held at Mico to disclose the findings of the research.