Workshop helps teachers to discover new realms of maths

Kochi: Mathematics may be a difficult subject and understanding  its concepts a troublesome proposition for many children.  Therefore, experts from Azim Premji University (APU) joined hands with Ramanujan Mathematical Society (RMS) to hold a workshop on Friday and Saturday at Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Elamakkara,   to guide school teachers to devise new methods to help children in this onerous but interesting task.

Prof Ambat Vijayakumar, professor in  the mathematics department of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat),  joined hands with Sneha Titus, assistant professor in mathematics with APU to impart lessons even as participating teachers themselves came up with  valuable suggestions to make the workshop an interesting one for teachers of class IX to XII, drawn from state, CBSE and ICSE schools in Kerala.

The teachers were introduced to the APU free resource for maths teachers titled ‘At Right Angles,’ published  three times a year and is aimed at promoting innovation and creativity. The software related to SCERT syllabus too was  explained to the teachers.

“They were introduced to concepts like chessboard mathematics and how to use internet resources for tracing innovative content. Some of the teachers showcased their maths blogs at the workshop making it a lively interface as well,” said Prof Ambat Vijayakumar.

One concept that Sneha Titus introduced was ‘Proof without words.’ “Pictures can be effectively used to communicate concepts to children and there wouldn’t be any need to  use  many words. The teacher can stimulate children to think this way. Students can also be encouraged to make pictures out of a given situation. Maths with paper folding was another concept introduced  to tell teachers how maths is connected to everyday simple activities,” said Sneha.

Maths teacher Suma Satheesh from the Tata High Range School, Munnar, said that the workshop was a  new experience. “We usually fail to go beyond textbooks prescribed for students and the workshop helped to buck that trend,” she said.