Teaching math in the new normal
III, Capiz National High School
THE COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it numerous challenges for all sectors in society and the world. One of the most tangible of these challenges involves the adjustments that the education sector has to face with the opening of classes in the Philippines on August 24, 2020 and the limitations in teaching and learning that the pandemic has forced this sector to implement. Now, the Department of Education (DepEd) has sought to minimize or totally forego with face-to-face teaching and opt for blended learning through modules, television, radio, and online to prevent the spread of the virus and to protect school children who are among the most vulnerable during this period. While this problem encompasses the teaching of all subjects in basic education, secondary education, and even college, perhaps, there is no greater challenge among subject teachers compared to the challenge that math teachers have to face.
There are studies that prove that learning math is not at all affected by the blended learning approach, hence, “there is no statistically significant relationship between traditional, blended, and fully online students and math scores, nor between traditional and blended learning students and reading scores. However, there was a statistically significant relationship between fully online students and higher reading scores” (Chaney, 2016). Apparently, in this study, it is clear that blended learning methodologies can be used for math teaching, in fact, in this same study, it is not math that is affected by blended learning but reading. In another study, “Blended learning was more effective in facilitating growth in math learning… These findings indicate that schools can benefit from implementing blended learning particularly for students who are behind academically and need additional academic growth in one school year” (Bryant, 2019). These two studies show the potential of blended learning in the teaching of math, possibly because math, due to its empirical nature, is easily taught through alternative methods. It has been reiterated time and again that the best way to teach math is by incorporating it with real life and blended learning allows teachers to do just that; to incorporate math into daily life through innovative, engaging, and more interactive math activities that are now more accessible through blended learning. The additional benefit of teaching math through blended learning is having to forego with the classroom setting which intimidates most students and pupils. Experience has taught that teaching math in a classroom setting puts students in a fully academic mindset which often intimidates students and affects their concentration. Blended learning, on the other hand, allows a friendlier, more interactive atmosphere where students, while learning math, can interact with their environment and their surroundings, apply their math learnings to daily tasks such as buying items from the sari-sari store, counting the dishes that they need to wash, and even cutting up a whole cake for their families. These practical situations inevitably link math with everyday living making it easier to understand and comprehend.
Through blended learning, pupils and students appreciate the importance of math even better. While in the classroom setting, students have to deal with numbers on a sheet of paper or on the blackboard, in blended learning, students and pupils get the opportunity to see math in action and in application to everyday tasks and chores. Through this, students and pupils will develop a deeper and more complex understanding of the role of math in everything as well as its significance in the tasks that one must do.
During the pandemic, the challenge is to deliver quality education despite the approaches that limit physical contact and face to face instruction. Teachers have to be more innovative and forward- thinking in their approaches to ensure that learning is delivered despite the limitations. The teaching approaches that are available during this new normal can have both advantages and disadvantages and it is up to teachers and mentors to utilize these methods not to the advantage of the teacher but for the full benefit of the students and pupils. (