Communication and Math Learning

Writing this article began with our conviction (n=keyakinan) that communication is key to the theaching and learning of mathematics. Communcation involves talking, listening, reading, writing, demonstrating, and observing. It means participating in social interaction, sharing thougths with others, and listening to others share their ideas. 

Communication helps children construct understanding of mathematical ideas and develop connections between their informal knowledge and the abstract symbolism of mathematical concepts. Communication makes mathematical thinking observable, thus making mathematical talk critical to assessment process and to learning it self. Teacher find out what students understand or are confused about by listening to their ideas. And communication encourages students to reflect on their own knowledge and can help students clarify their ideas or change their thinking, especially when they hear others points of view. 

Communicating about mathematical ideas is therefore important to both the teacher and student. Student cannot learn mathematics by just going to class and watching the instructor Lecture/theacer and work problems. In order to learn mathematics you must be actively involved in the learning process. You’ve got to attend class and pay attention while in class. You’ve got to take a good set of notes. You’ve got to work homework problems, even if the instructor doesn’t assign any. You’ve got to study on a regular schedule, not just the night before exams. In other words you need to be involved in the learning process. 

Literature identifies the major obstacles to reforms as teachers’ lack of familiarity with innovative instructional practices and tools, teachers’ lack of understanding of mathematics they teach and their inability to communicate mathematics with students in ways other than direct instruction; and teachers’ reluctance to conform to new methods of teaching due to their beliefs about what students need to know.

So, the key is communication....!

by Rusdin La Eba | Post Graduate of FMIPA Unhas | IMMIM Makassar