How to motivate the students who have very low math skill
I know repeating similar kind of problems 30 times will make them understand the steps but it i too stressful for them so we need to find out practical application brought in to the class. I will need classroom activities if any one knows any
Some good comments here. In a food service cost control situation with alternative students, math skills are all over the place. Formulas I teach as cooking techniques to supply information bits that lead to being able to make an informed decision. I do not stress numbers, rather concepts. I have to say this sometimes fall flat when students do not have calculators, but for the most part, it seems to take the stress out of "not being good in math."
I agree I tutor math in our learning center, and students who often have trouble with fractions, or decimals, or percents often have a better understanding when I break it down in terms of money and shopping.
Chef Dave,
Money is the greatest motivator and all my students who say they cannot do math, especially percentages, find it quite easy when money is used.
Once again your advice and understanding has always been appreciated, but a middle name of "Paul"....whats that..??
Chef Kris
With math classes I have always relied on money to clarify some simple formulas that students may be struggling with. No, I don't bribe them into learning, I break problems down using monetary value. Good old dollars and cents! Most students can relate to it and have some familiarity with handling it whether it be there own earnings or on the job. It comes in quite handy with fractions and percentages. Good luck.
Hi Kalpana,
You are right about it being stressful and time consuming to repeat things in a straight repetition format. Some activities could be the use of games. There is a Jeopardy game in PP format that is an excellent way to get students to remember formulas and steps. I can send you a copy of it if you are interested. The students can do it by themselves or as teams.
You can use quick quizzes where students create questions and then quiz each other. I use this as a break from lecture and they really like it. It only takes a few minutes but it puts the content in front of the student once again.
Another activity is to have students draw on flip charts pictures of a formula or concept. We post them around the room and let each group explain what the pictures or symbols mean. Students get into this activity and associate the pictures with the content.
Hope this gives you some ideas about activities you can get started with.
Gary
