I was always average at
best in mathematics in school. In exam I'd write 3 or 4 (C or D in
American grades). It's okay, but not great. In my final year in college
we got a new teacher. I forgot why the other one didn't go on for the
final year with us. What did surprise both my new teacher and me
though was the fact that suddenly I'd write 1 (A) in exams! That's
right. It left me speechless the first time it happened.
I believe that part of it
was due to the fact that the new teacher would always start a new
subject by talking about how it related to the real world outside.
It's good to have some connection to the real world and not just
working some abstract numbers and learning for exams only. Mind you,
I barely remember anything from the mathematics now. It's 17 years
ago. Just too long a time. But I still remember the action of talking
real world first.
I wonder how much more
students would be engaged in learning and studying beyond just for
exams, if all teachers did that. It wasn't that the new mathematics
teacher talked the whole first class about the connection. I don't
remember how much time he spent. But even if it's just a couple of
minutes and listing a couple of examples, at least it makes the
subject more relatable, doesn't it? It doesn't have to be a long
talk.
In the end I finished
school still with an average 3 (C ) in mathematics, because they had
to add up some exams before my 1 (A) exams and I pretty much blacked
out in one exam that was part subject of the final exam as well. I'm
not good at all in some areas of mathematics, because my brain just
doesn't seem to get it, despite all the efforts of my teachers.
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