Schools are setting up a mathematics
laboratory to help students overcome their phobia of the subject and make it
more interesting. The Laboratory is a novel concept which enables students to
learn and explore mathematical concepts and verify facts and theorems.
The maths lab helps
students to understand, internalize, discover and verify the basic mathematical
and geometrical concepts through concrete objects and situations, thus building
interest and confidence in students in learning the subject.
The laboratory also
encourages students to think and discuss among themselves as well as with the
teacher thus helping assimilate concepts.
The lab also enables
teachers to demonstrate, explain and reinforce abstract mathematical ideas by
using concrete objects, models, charts, graphs, pictures and posters. The lab
would enable the students to verify geometric properties and facts with models
or by paper cutting and folding techniques. “It helps the students to build
interest and confidence in learning the subjects.
The laboratory provides
opportunity to exhibit the relatedness of mathematical concepts with everyday
life. Presently the focus is on enhancing the areas of “Multiple Intelligence”
in every child.
The application of the
theory of multiple intelligences varies widely. It aims at creating confidence
in the students having difficulties, uses a different approach to teach the
subjects.
In other words, experimentation in
Math Lab is directly connected to the theory of Multiple Intelligence which provide
opportunities for the students to use and develop all the different
intelligence, not just the few at which they naturally excel.