With the snow still here, there, and everywhere (if no longer deep and thick and even) why not wander over to the excellent Telegraph education pages, and check out our maths whizz bannerette, featured on a couple of pages, such as this one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/6943166/Ofsted-stigmatising-schools-say-MPs.html

Even better, click the image, sign up to Whizz and give your child an educational boost with our top maths tutor during the cold winter months.

It is often better to fail something in order to learn it better.

Here’s how the SciAm summarises the findings from recent research in the Journal of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition:

In a series of experiments, [the researchers] showed that if students make an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve information before receiving an answer, they remember the information better than in a control condition in which they simply study the information. Trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to learning. It’s an idea that has obvious applications for education, but could be useful for anyone who is trying to learn new material of any kind.

Quite. Drivers who don’t pass their test first time are apt to say (for their pride, if nothing else) that failure makes them a better driver. And this is something we at Whizz consistently tell students, parents and teachers: Don’t be afraid to fail.

Failure in Maths-Whizz is often constructive – it tells the tutoring engine that a student’s understanding of a subject may be incomplete, it allows the student to revisit the subject to reinforce her understanding and, given these recent findings, it may fix the solution – when the student finds it – more firmly in her mind.

This work has implications beyond the classroom. By challenging ourselves to retrieve or generate answers we can improve our recall.

This method is directly applied in a number of maths-whizz pencil and paper style exercises – where the student is asked to estimate the answer before proceeding with the detailed solution. But it also applies to those instances where a student at first fails a few questions, or an entire exercise.

The research is a reminder that whilst it seem unfair to expect students to provide answers beyond their comfort zone, this ‘pretesting’ effect could in fact better prepare them to hold onto that knowledge when later it is properly acquired.

So, if you’re a Maths-Whizzer stumped on a question don’t worry, just give it a try. If you fail first time, you might just remember it better! And if that isn’t encouragement enough, take it from Michael Jordan:

often scared of basic numeracy and should be required to study English and maths at A-level

…according to a report by the moderate conservative Politeia think-tank.

The report, titled ‘Teachers Matter’ focuses on entry standards for teachers. An author, David Burghes, of the University of Plymouth, said:

One of the issues that bedevils our teaching profession, and particularly my subject of mathematics, is that of the inadequate subject knowledge of teachers.

But Nansi Ellis, head of education policy at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, countered:

As well as knowing their subject, teachers need to understand the different ways children learn and develop.

Instead of hysterical reports of so-called under-educated teachers we should have a proper debate about the skills and knowledge teachers need to be good at teaching children.

The report goes on to argue that central control and management of teachers is damaging the profession, but the department for Children, Schools and Families strongly criticised the comments.

From this corner, it seems that questions about the qualifications of teachers will never go away. Commenters from both sides of the political divide will argue that life experience and teaching knowledge are more important than academic bona-fides, whilst others will argue that degree- or A-level knowledge is vital to ensure good teaching in that particular subject.

I’m inclined to hedge my bets on this one. I had excellent teachers whose passion was fuelled by their deep understanding of the subjects they taught, and I had dull teachers whose poor teaching seemed a direct result of their academic immersion.

In earlier years, I remember most the teachers who showed vigour and interest, but it was easy to spot teachers who were less confident in particular subjects. I’d like to think that the love of teaching must come first – a motivated and bright teacher can be taught fluency in a subject that isn’t her own, but a knowledgeable teacher isn’t necessarily willing to be motivated. I know that not all teachers want to tackle subjects they didn’t learn beyond GCSE – the teacher training process should identify those people and ensure they are pushed towards areas they are comfortable with.

A teacher who is dull, or even disparaging, about a subject can sometimes do more damage than good. Feel free to comment!

Even if you feel this another example of educational researchers preaching to the choir, it is worth having a look at the ScienceDaily report and the research site itself.

The researchers established that the lessons worked best when the teachers combined different didactic approaches, when they used different media and when they clearly explained the connection between all of the methods. As the students learn in pairs or in groups using both pen and paper and the digital environment, their learning experiences in the ICT environment are neither isolated nor individual.

This is a useful reminder that there may often be no single method that works best, but that a variety of media, a variety of methods and an engaged teacher to join the dots might be the ideal setup.

I’d be inclined to think that this study also undermines the debates in the US over ‘Reform‘ versus ‘Traditional‘ mathematics. It’s horses for courses, we’re inclined to tell our Maths-Whizz customers, and if different methods benefit different children all we can do is offer as much variety of learning as possible (such as pencil and paper methods, speed games, problem solving and mental methods – all included in Maths-Whizz), tied together in an intuitive fashion.

We’d like to think we have managed this with Maths-Whizz, but we also know full well that engaged parents or teachers are crucial to making any educational service succeed.

As the researchers noted, the teacher [or parent?] is the glue that holds different learning styles and media together:

During computer work, the teacher plays an important role in encouraging reflection. He or she must connect the computer work to the problem as well as to the ‘pen and paper’ maths. The learning arrangement with the different didactic approaches and media appears to demand a lot from the teachers.

The teacher is no less important in the new media age than she was in the days of blackboard and chalk. All we hope to do is give her the best (award-winning) tools to help her do her job.

Maths exists in the petals of flowers, the rhythms of raindrops and the social networks that connect us; it is at the core of scientific and medical breakthroughs and it is a diverse and varied subject.

Read on for some great tips from an expert on how to play to a child’s strengths in maths, and encourage him or her to get the most out of the subject.

Here are Jo Boaler’s tips, summarised for your condensed enjoyment. Read the article to get the details:

• Everyone can be good at maths – lose the negative attitude!;
• Maths puzzles and games are vital;
• Parents and children should talk about maths;
• Numbers are more flexible than you think;
• Find encouragement in mistakes that contain nuggets of good maths;
• Explore maths in the wider world;
• Encourage problem-solving, the idea that any problem can be broken down;
• Talk to your child’s teacher or maths co-ordinator and support their problem-solving approaches to maths tuition.

Jo Boaler’s article gives an impassioned case for the idea of maths as discovery – allowing the child to see patterns and features of numbers and their expressions in nature – without the burden of standard maths teaching methods. This method is described, generally condescendingly, as reform math in the still-lively debate over teaching methods in the US.

Ms Boaler points to the disconnect between school children’s perceptions of maths and experts’ experiences:

Ask mathematicians what mathematics is and they will generally tell you it is the study and exploration of patterns. Ask schoolchildren what mathematics is and they will usually tell you it is a vast collection of rules that have to be remembered.

Of course, it’s one thing to point out that university mathematicians see the patterns and science behind maths, and quite another to generate that level of understanding amongst nine-year-olds, but if the child never grasps those underlying patterns, he or she will never become a university mathematician.

‘Traditionalists’ (whatever they are) would argue that some can only be taught with repetitive methods (mockingly described as ‘drill and kill’), but Jo Boaler’s thesis is one we would agree with. If you condemn a child to understand maths only in terms of rules to be recalled and numbers to be parroted out he or she may never get the chance to peek at the patterns behind it all.

Different mathematical methods tend to suit different minds, but that doesn’t mean that curricula should play to the lowest common denominator, assuming that students can cope with no creative engagement with the subject.

The best maths teaching method is surely one that allows different approaches to the same problem, but that still requires factual rigour. It is a mistake to think that discovery-led learning produces sloppy results. It is the sloppy teacher who leads the child to think that accuracy is subordinate to good intention.

Maths-Whizz is a service that splits the difference between the learning-through-repetition and the learning-through-discovery approaches. Our students are not all alike – some prefer to treat maths problems as stories to be broken down, whilst others prefer their maths in cut-and-dried test questions.

Maths-Whizz accounts for all tastes and, we’d hope, helps parents and teachers get the most out of their young mathematicians in the process. We have maths games in the Whizz Shop; reports to encourage dialogue between teachers, parents and children; help sections that build confidence rather than crush it; assessment modes that teach to ability, not age; and diversity of mathematical approaches. We’d like to think Jo Boaler would approve.

Whizz.com research shows children make their own minds up about their maths ability before they reach the age of nine.

This is why placing the blame on weak assessment of pupils by their teachers fails to get to the crux of the problem of why our children are failing at maths early in their academic careers, says Richard Marett, CEO of Whizz.com.

An investigation into maths teaching by the National Audit Office found that over 30,000 children are leaving primary school with the numerical ability of a seven year old.

“Reporting and assessing, although important, does not actually change how good students are at maths. The only way of improving their ability is through developing teaching methods and tools and changing attitudes to maths tutoring” says Marett.

“Being poor at maths is seen as ‘ok’ in the UK, amongst both kids and adults. It is much ‘cooler’ to excel in arts subjects than it is in maths. This is where we differ from our Asian counterparts who are achieving much more highly.

“This attitude does nothing to raise attainment. Teachers and parents both have to play a part in improving students’ attitudes towards learning mathematics and thus raising their confidence.”

Research at www.whizz.com makes it clear that children make an internal decision as to whether they are good at maths before they reach the age of nine. Therefore new methods and technologies that make a difference to younger students to supplement existing teaching would be much more cost-effective than reforms to assessment. In reality, teaching methods have changed little over the last two decades and innovative new ideas are not being exploited fully.