The learning and teaching of mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The learning and teaching of mathematics - Essay Example The paper tells that decimal notation is a crisis experienced by children in mathematics. The researcher has faced instances where some children are unable to distinguish between small and large values when presented with decimal points. When the subject of decimals is first introduced to primary school children, there is a general belief that when the number is long, the value is high. This means that there is an existing problem in the ability to differentiate the values of digits with decimal points. For example, when the researcher ask children to assign the number with the highest values between 5.555, 5.55 and 5.5, 5.555 is given as the answer. The reasons children give are arguably connected to the way they view whole numbers and denote decimal points. This trend can be explained by a number of misconceptions in decimal notation. There is a general belief that numbers with more digits represent high values than those with small values. 5.555 is believed to have a large value t han 5.5 because 5.555 has four digits that make the number look bigger, and 5.5 has two digits that make the number look smaller. While this explanation may be true in some cases, several combination of numbers may not adhere to the misconception. For example, in differentiating between 0.12, 0.111 and 0.1012, children pick 0.1012 as the number with the greatest value because 0.12 has three digits, 0.111 has four and 0.1012 has five, hence, the more the number of the digits, the higher the value of the number. In reality, 0.12 has a higher value compared to 0.1012.

A Metacognitive Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

A Metacognitive Exercise - Essay Example Reflecting on the modules and the readings, is that language and literacy learning is both overwhelming and, surprisingly, well-researched. Overwhelming because the depth of research is staggering, from the selection of reading texts to a child’s stages of cognitive development, to the variables affecting interpretation and meaning. This initial sense of being overwhelmed, however, later gives way to a sense of security as the readings come together to form a more comprehensive whole. To be sure, there are theoretical disagreements. There are areas in need of additional research. That said, there really is a sufficient groundwork, in both theoretical and practical terms, with which to plan meaningful literacy lessons and programmes. The text emphasised the significant effects of word choice in the narrative text. The choice of words such as "reared" and "crushed" and the use of punctuation such as "Thud!" truly affected the mood and the feeling conveyed by the text. As a menta l exercise, I arbitrarily changed some of the words in order to see how the meaning might be altered; the results were quite significant. In sum, from the point of view of a student or a writer, I find the concepts of metalanguage and social purposes of text very helpful both in terms of understanding a text and in terms of creating a text. Though seemingly intuitive, these concepts add very much to the understanding of language, linguistic features, and meaning. To this regard I have the initiative to improve myself by answering the following activities: Activity: Describe the genre used by the seven-year-old child in the following text. List the features in terms of use of verbs, general and specific participants and descriptive words and statements. What understandings of the convention of written language does she demonstrate "I was going Dawn cabell terast on my Big Bieck. It was a Stiep Hill and my brakes pat up when I was haf the wai dan the hill and I broacd my coliaBone and I had to to go to the hosPtall to get a slliea on it. Its getting beta, ten I can ride I't a gain" Answer Using what I have learned from Green and Campbell, I recognized the genre of the text as a narrative. It tells the story of a seven year old boy in a sequential manner- precisely how Green and Campbell defined narratives. It also uses past tense form of verbs and makes use of the linking verb "and" to denote what happened next. It can also be recognized that the text is full of grammatical errors such as spelling and punctuation. However, it can be seen that the child is able to use the basic Subject - Object construction with the verb in between. The text displays the " how you pronounce it is how you spell and write it" system. Entry 2: Being particularly interested in writing, I found the work by