Math Ed
Issue 23 Mar / Apr 2010

Real-life Math in the Classroom

“What does math have to do with my everyday life?” your student might ask. To some, solving math questions has no relation to the problems they encounter in their daily lives. But math questions that draw on real-life scenarios can help us appreciate the usefulness of math.

Article highlights
  • What is performance assessment?
  • What are the benefits of performance assessment?
  • How can we overcome some of the challenges of using performance assessment?

One of the aims of math education is to teach students the value of math in their daily lives.

According to Math professor Alan Schoenfeld, well-known for his book Mathematical Problem Solving, many students feel that math has little or no relation to the real world (cited in Fan et al., 2008). Many also mistakenly assume that there can only be one answer to any math problem.

Consider this question:

Mrs Lim intends to take her class of 50 students for a river cruise. There are two types of charges: The big boat, which can carry 6 people, charges a fare of $10 per boat; and the small boat, which can carry 4 people, charges a fare of $8 per boat.

What are the possible options of renting the boats: (a) with a minimum cost; (b) with a minimum number of boats; (c) with a minimum number of empty seats?

From your solution, choose an option of renting the boats that you think is the best.

(Source: Adapted from Fan, 2008, pp. 21 & 23)

How many answers can you come up with? Does you answer include Mrs Lim joining the cruise?

This is an example of a performance task. There is more than one answer for this question, and more than one way to go about solving the problem.

What Is Performance Assessment?

Performance tasks are used in performance assessment. The math tasks are usually open-ended and authentic. They use real-life scenarios to assess students’ learning and often have more than one solution.

“Such tasks cannot be answered by simple recall,” explains Associate Professor Fan Lianghuo, who teaches math education at NIE. “Students need to explore and engage in processes such as looking for patterns, gathering data, and logical reasoning.”

Performance assessment is useful for gathering data on the students’ learning. Lianghuo was interested to find out how such assessment can affect students’ learning of math.

Alternative Methods of Assessment

In recent years, greater emphasis has been placed on developing students’ skills in problem solving, higher-order thinking, co-operation and communication.

Traditional methods have been useful in assessing recall of knowledge, often acquired through rote learning. But these methods have been found to be inadequate in testing areas such as students’ learning processes, interests and appreciation of math.

Lianghuo says that when using traditional assessment methods like MCQs, the teacher may not know if the students’ thinking processes are wrong, even though they get the right answer.

“Teachers need to know their students’ thinking processes,” he emphasizes. “That’s where performance tasks come in. When students do performance tasks, teachers can understand their students better – their thinking processes, their weaknesses, their strengths – so they can make informed instructional decisions.”

A Study of New Assessment Strategies
Lianghuo and team were interested to find out how new assessment strategies can affect students’ learning of math and how they can be effectively used in math classrooms. They studied its implementation in 8 primary and 8 secondary schools over a period of 3 semesters.

Four alternative assessment strategies were explored: performance assessment; project assessment, where students work on project tasks; student self-assessment, where students reflect on and evaluate their learning; and communication assessment, where they communicate what they learn through journal writing and oral presentations.

Although getting started was challenging, it was found that given enough support and help, teachers were able to implement these assessment methods.

The Benefits

According to research, higher-order thinking processes and problem-solving skills can be better assessed by performance assessments (Fan, 2006).

The teachers in this study found that complementing their teaching with performance tasks helped them gain an understanding of their students’ learning.

The students also enjoyed doing the performance tasks. They had to apply different methods to solve the problems, which helped them develop their creativity in problem solving.

These methods helped develop their higher-order thinking skills, and they were able to use these tasks to reflect on their own learning process. (Fan et al., 2008)

The Challenges

As with any new method, however, the students and teachers encountered several challenges.

  • Time constraints
    Finding time to implement this method was an issue as teachers are constantly under pressure to complete the syllabus. Teachers should decide on the frequency of using these tasks and implement them gradually into their teaching to avoid a sudden increase in workload.
  • Lack of resources
    Although the resources available online are growing, there is still a lack of resources suitable for the local context. Teachers can work together to develop these materials. Lianghuo recommends attending professional workshops and seminars, such as those organized by NIE’s Math department, to gain knowledge on how to design these tasks.
  • Feeling lost
    A number of students found some of the tasks too challenging, and some felt lost when doing these tasks (Fan et al., 2008). “Students may have no idea what to do, especially at the beginning,” explains Lianghuo.”Teachers must make their expectations clear and show them how they can approach the task,” he suggests. “At the later stage, they should give their students more freedom to be more independent.”

Worth It All

“Schools need to create a culture that encourages the use of performance assessment,” stresses Lianghuo. Already, some schools are using performance tasks in their continual assessments. Increasingly, such questions are also being included in the PSLE.

The benefits of performance assessment may not be immediately evident in the exam results, but Lianghuo assures us that these efforts are worthwhile.

“Using performance tasks, students can appreciate the relevance of math in their daily lives,” he says, “and they can show creativity and make their own decisions.”

References
Fan, L. (2006). Making alternative assessment an integral part of instructional practice. In P. Y. Lee (Ed.), Teaching secondary school mathematics: A resource book (pp. 343-354). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.

Fan, L. (Ed.). (2008, September). Performance assessment in mathematics: Concepts, methods, and examples from research and practice in Singapore classrooms [Resource booklet]. Singapore: National Institute of Education.

Fan, L. et al. (2008). Integrating new assessment strategies into mathematics classrooms: An exploratory study in Singapore primary and secondary schools (Final Res. Rep. for CRP 24/03 FLH). Singapore: National Institute of Education, Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice.

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