In Mathematics class, Primary 6 students studied multiplication and division concept. In this topic, they learnt some methods to do multiplication and division calculation. Beside the calculation methods, students explored their understanding more by solving word problems as the real-life problem application. They had a chance working on Mathematics portfolio to demonstrate their skills in the calculation.
At first, students had a review by having question and answer session. During the review, they recalled how to differentiate method 1 and 2 in multiplying 1 and 2-digit numbers. They also had a small class discussion in working on long division steps orderly. Afterwards, teacher distributed a set of questions which consist of 4 different cases that should be solved by estimating the values and showing clear steps of working through the understandable methods that students chose. In the end, students did a self-assessment to reflect their own learning process in working it.
By working on the task given, students learnt to express their thinking systematically into steps of working. They tried to understand what the problems about, decided the correct methods to solve and did calculation accurately. They were also encouraged to find out the strength and weakness that they had when they were having the self-assessment.
Moreover, this activity was promoted to enhance the students’ critical thinking and reasoning. They also had a chance to improve their mathematical understanding by connecting the knowledge that they’ve already known with the problems that they faced. For a long-term purpose, this activity was able to build the student’s adaptability and confidence in developing their problem-solving skills thoroughly. ***
