ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC:
WAY FOR STIMULATING AND MAINTAING
INTEREST IN LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS

SUBMITTED TO,
SAMEERA MISS
FMTC PALLIMUKKU

SUBMITTED BY,
SANGEETHA S
B.Ed Mathematics

WAY FOR STIMULATING AND MAINTAING INTEREST IN

LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS
It is well known fact that students will work most diligently
and effectively at task in which they are genuinely interested. Therefore, one of the
important tasks of the teacher of mathematics is to create and maintain interest among
his students. Perhaps, it is one of the most difficult problems encountered by the
teachers of mathematics.
The students will show greater enthusiasm for the work
for which they are highly motivated. Thus the motivation has two aspects: (1) creating
or arousing interest (2) maintain the interest even after the novelty of the work fades
away.
Interests are motives which serve as important influences in
producing both activities and attitudes that are most favourable for learning. A strong
interest in mathematics tends to produce a positive attitude towards mathematics and
such an attitude would in turn enhance the desire to learn mathematics in a more
productive way. Thus the development and maintenance of interest in mathematics
becomes an important concern of the mathematics teacher.

How to Develop and Maintain Interest in Mathematics?

A mathematics teacher should be well versed with the means and techniques of
arousing and stimulating interest in mathematics. Some of the devices are discussed
below. However, a teacher can always devise techniques which are most appropriate for
his own students.
Element of novelty: Students become interested in things which are new and
exciting. Though the possession of background information related to the new
work tends to intensify the interest, novelty is more compelling than familiarity.
The mathematics learning should arouse the curiosity of the students; should
satisfy their thirst for knowledge and should help in appreciating the beauty of
mathematics. The teacher has to arrange the mathematics activities in a manner
most suitable for the students level of understanding.
Ensuring students understanding: Inability to understand makes the students
restless and listless leading to general loss of interest. Students tend to remain

interested in those things which they understand well and which they can do
most successfully. A reasonable degree of competence should be ensured keeping
in mind the nature of the content presented and the capacity of the students to
understand.
Intellectual challenge: The mathematical work presented should not be too
simple. It should present a continual intellectual challenge to the students, devoid
of drudgery and boredom. This is possible by organizing the mathematical
activities at a level of difficulty appropriate to the intellectual maturity of the
student.
Improving problem-solving ability: Genuine interest in mathematics probably
depends upon the problem solving aspect of the subject. Mathematics teaching
presents the students with an abundance of problems every day. These problems
equip the students with modes of thought and techniques which enable them to
solve the problems successfully. Each successful solution provides the student
with a sense of achievement, a feeling of satisfaction and joy. This could act as a
driving force to seek similar experiences, pursuing task of the same kind.
Therefore, the mathematics teacher should plan problems with care and should
make sure that the students are able to solve them successfully so that the
student gets the positive reinforcement to proceed further.
Use of incentives: Incentives such as marks, rewards of various kinds may serve to
build motives or inner drives and thus promote genuine interest in mathematics.
However, use of incentives does not guarantee this. They should not be used
indiscriminately or thoughtlessly. Unless used judiciously, they can do more harm
than good. The success of the use of such devices depends largely upon the kinds
of incentives used and the way in which they are used. A teacher can make use of
devices such as mathematical games and contests, tricks, puzzles, and other
recreations, multisensory aids, projects, information about the application,
values, and utility of mathematics, historical notes on mathematics etc. as
incentives.
Emphasising the practical application of mathematics: The practical application of
mathematics in daily life situations and real situations provides an important
means of stimulating Interest. Many topics that the students learn in high school
mathematics have immediate relevance for solving problems that arise in daily
life. For example, while teaching topics such as simple interest, compound
interest, recurring deposit, discount, percentage, stokes and shares, direct and
indirect variations, mensuration etc., the teachers should not fail to stress their
importance from this point of view. The mathematical principles help the

students in understanding and interpreting loss of nature and environment. This

knowledge also could sustain the interest of the students.
Emphasising the use of mathematics in the study of other subjects: In one way or
another mathematics forms the basis for the study of many of the school subjects
as well as pursuing higher education in many professional courses such as
Engineering, Genetics, Computer science, Information Technology, Bioinformatics and so on. The application of mathematics is not limited to physical
sciences, but has important bearing upon the biological and social sciences as
well. The teacher should make use of this relationship of mathematics with other
subjects in arousing the interest of the students in the study of mathematics. This
can be achieved by selecting relevance problems and examples from other
subjects while teaching related topics in mathematics.
Use of audiovisual aids and practical work: Mathematics teaching can be made
more interesting through a variety of sensory experiences than through mere talk
and chalk method. The use of audiovisual aids provides a variety of sensory
experiences which will help in making abstract mathematical concepts concrete
and meaningful. Moreover, it facilitates better understanding of the subject and
thereby makes it more interesting. It is desirable to use experiments and
laboratory work to verify mathematical truths and discover mathematical laws
and principles. It arouses the intellectual curiosity of the students and helps to
maintain interest in the subject.
Using mathematics for fun and recreation: Mathematics provides enough
opportunities for fun and recreation. This can be used as an effective means of
stimulating interest in mathematics. Mathematical games and puzzles serves as
interesting setting for mathematical principles But care should be taken to see
that they do not present distorted ideas of the nature of mathematics.
Mathematics clubs are also forums where interesting learning can take place
through fun filled activities.
References to historical developments of mathematical concepts: The teacher can
use historical anecdotes relating to the development of mathematical concepts
and ideas as a device for stimulating interest among the students. The life history
of mathematician, the painstaking efforts taken by the mathematician to discover
mathematical facts, and the patience and perseverance exhibited by the
mathematician in their pursuit for search for mathematical truth can be appealing
for the students to pursue their mathematical learning interest and enthusiasm. A
resourceful teacher can think of many more such devices which are specially
suitable for the students who he teaches. However, selection of the devices

should be guided by the level of achievement, the intellectual maturity of the

students as well as attitude and aptitude of the student. Above all, the teacher
himself should be highly motivated to teach mathematics with a high level
interest in the subject. Only such teachers could inculcate interest in the students
and enthuse them to learn.
Arranging for field wok and field trip: Field work and field trips are two important
techniques for stimulating interest. Both field work and field trip initiate the
students to the real world and provide first hand experiences in the practical
application of mathematics learning. A teacher, wherever possible, could make
use of techniques for arousing interest in mathematics.