Maths teachers are always thinking of new ways to teach the subject. We’re constantly surprised at the ingenuity and variety of styles and methods that teachers use; but teaching maths in French - at a Scottish school - is new to us.
Maths genius Pierre de Fermat - coming soon… from Scotland?
Maths-Whizz Teachers’ resource has been well-represented in the results of the Primary Schools League Tables, released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families last December.
14 of the 101 English schools “most improved” in their Key Stage 2 tests between 2004 and 2007 use Maths-Whizz Teachers’ Resource. Even better, 5 of the 30 schools in London which achieved a 100% score in Maths (i.e. all pupils at Level 4 or better), have bought Maths-Whizz for their pupils.
This confirms our understanding that many of the most forward-thinking and successful primary schools use Maths-Whizz Teachers’ Resource. We find that using Maths-Whizz is a sign of good teaching and good teaching is often a by-product of using Maths-Whizz.
We never designed our software to be a crutch for incompetent or lazy teachers, but rather an engaging resource for busy, active, stimulating schol environments that builds on good classroom practice and further encourages it. The league table results are further proof of this.
If ever proof was needed that maths comes in handy when you least expect it, it is in this depressing-if-it-wasn’t-funny story from the Manchester Evening News.
Camelot, the lottery and gaming firm, has had to withdraw its ‘Cool Cash’ scratchcard from sale, after it transpired the apparently simple challenge presented on the cards was beyond many of its customers.
The first edition of our updated customer newsletter has been sent out to users, and is now online here.
Take a look - it’s a quick read - and let us know if there’s anything in particular you’d like to read about in our updates, such as educational tips, links to other maths resources, development news and the like.
The newest addition to the Whizz stable is our Maths-Whizz Teachers’ Resource Key Stage 3, out this month. MWTR KS3, to use its snappier name, is stuffed with over 150 brand-new year 8 animated exercises and exam-style worksheets. It features a more mature interface style, an updated dictionary with new animated definitions and a vastly-improved tools page (now known as the ‘Interactive Board’).
Contact Natalie Stakol on 020 7262 6952 or natalie.stakol@whizzeducation.com for more information.
A US Department of Education study, released earlier this spring, found that using reading or mathematics software in class had no significant effect on students’ test scores. The report, titled ‘Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort’, is available here.
The News Tribune, a Washington state newspaper, reported the findings last month thus:
The long-awaited report amounts to a rebuke of educational technology, a business whose growth has been spurred by schools desperate for ways to meet the testing mandates of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law.
Over nine thousand students in 132 schools took part in the study that looked at 15 different software products, all used for either reading or maths teaching. Becta, the government’s educational communications and technology agency, has been looking into the effectiveness teaching software for some time, but has not (at least to my knowledge) come out with such an official overall verdict on the worth of teaching with software, as America’s Department of Education has done. (more…)
Computer racing games make you a bad driver - at least, according to the findings of some recent research, both in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, and for the driving school company, BSM.
In a sense, this finding is encouraging - apparently simple games are influencing complex real-life behaviour. If computer games are having this kind of effect then educationally-stimulating and socially-constructive games could be genuinely useful for children and adults alike. April’s ‘TechNews’ report from Becta (the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) notes the development of “Ethics Game” in Thailand, the brainchild of a civil servant in the Thai Government’s Moral and Ethical Development Office who was concerned at the emphasis on violence in arcade games. “Ethics Game” has been designed to encourage learning of the five precepts of Buddhism: do not kill, steal, lie, commit adultery, or drink alcohol. (more…)
Traditional intelligence isn’t everything when it comes to maths; a new study has found that ‘executive function’ - attention span and mental self-regulation - is fundamental to academic success, especially in maths.
The paper, featured in the March/April edition of the journal Child Development and reported in this week’s Scientific American, looked over a hundred and forty American kindergarten students. The authors looked at mental processes that come under the general heading of ‘executive function’ and that don’t feature in traditional descriptions of academic ability - ‘working memory’ and ‘inhibitory control’.
Working memory is where you keep information or instructions as you perform a task, whilst inhibitory control is all about the brain’s ability to ignore or suppress automatic responses to certain tasks. Learning a new approach to a problem involves keeping in mind that new method, whilst suppressing a tendency towards the old method. (more…)
The very popular BBC Jam, provider of educationally-oriented games, has closed as of the 15th of March. This has been an excellent resource for many parents seeking interactive learning at home for their children and as Helen Jones posted, it has left many parents in a pickle for a suitable alternative. Fear not, the post from Creative Match has other worthwhile alternatives and Helen kindly recommends Maths-Whizz as the best interactive maths tutoring service.
QCA, the body that oversees and regulates pretty much everything that is taught in the UK, has just got the ball rolling on their Secondary Curriculum Review.
The Secondary Review will look at refreshing the curricula for all standard subjects (including Maths) in Key Stages 3 and 4 and the QCA have started a public consultation, inviting opinions and feedback from anyone and everyone with an interest in secondary school learning and teaching.
You can get involved. (more…)