BELIEFS ABOUT STUDENTS AND MATHEMATICS LEARNING

Students are curious, active learners with individual interests, abilities and needs. They come to classrooms with varying knowledge, life experiences and backgrounds. A key component in successfully developing numeracy is making connections to these backgrounds and experiences. Students learn by attaching meaning to what they do and need to construct their own meaning of mathematics. This meaning is best developed when learners encounter mathematical experiences that proceed from the simple to the complex and from the concrete to the abstract. The use of manipulatives and a variety of pedagogical approaches can address the diversity of learning styles and developmental stages of students, and enhance the formation of sound, transferable, mathematical concepts. At all levels, students benefit from working with a variety of materials, tools and contexts when constructing meaning about new mathematical ideas. Meaningful student discussions can provide essential links among concrete, pictorial and symbolic representations of mathematics. The learning environment should value and respect all students’ experiences and ways of thinking, so that learners are comfortable taking intellectual risks, asking questions and posing conjectures. Students need to explore problem-solving situations in order to develop personal strategies and become mathematically literate. Learners must realize that it is acceptable to solve problems in different ways and that solutions may vary (p. 2).