Master Of Teaching For Enhancing Skill: Strategies To Support Student Learning

Discuss about the Master of Teaching for Enhance Skill.
 

The main aim of the report is to identify the how professional learning can be used to support student learning. The main may is to identify how professional degrees can be used to improve the students learning and knowledge in class. Teachers are the most essential part of the student’s life and without teachers it is not possible to gain knowledge that is required by students to enhance skill and talent that student posses. Through the evidence gathered the report identifies the learning needs of the student. The author uses the literature review to support its argument. It identifies the various learning needs of students below standard eight mathematics class. There are various teaching stratifies that the teachers can use to develop and improve the knowledge that the students possess and improve the learning ability.  The survey was done on the class of twenty girls who were studied in class 8 that came from different cultural backgrounds. The class consists of mixed range of students with physical disability, and diverse learning abilities. Three students have moved to Australia from china. These students have very good mathematical skill but they struggle with literacy and other subjects.  The report identifies the literacy in mathematical classroom and identifies how the teacher’s knowledge and professional degree can improve and support students learning. There are various learning needs to improve the student’s mathematical knowledge and literacy. The main identified common learning need is improvement in literacy help. The most common problem with the student who has moved from china to Australia is with the literacy knowledge of mathematics (AAMT, 2014).  

The students in a class come with different background culture and know different languages. The major problem with students coming from different countries or places is that the languages known to them are different. To understand the mathematics terminology and words it is essential for the students to know the language that is used in class or the most common language that is English. Mathematics is not only about equations and calculations. It has various terms that require students to have literature knowledge and for this the students needs literacy support. There are wide range of learning needs that are identified that include wide diversity of students, low literacy, inability to retain and recall information, and learning disabilities that can be the reason for low literacy and numeracy. There are many strategies and actions that can be used to meet these learning needs and assist students to maximize their learning (Cooper et al., 2014). 

The common problem identified for the majority of students is the low literacy skills. The evidence shows that the students often misinterpret the words that are used in mathematics that often lead them to take out the answer that are wrong. Evidence shows that the students have mathematical knowledge but it is due to the lack of literacy skills that creates more problems. The survey conducted showed that the students were given a sum that included least word in it which the students misinterpreted. The survey showed that the students who moved to Australia from China also had the problem of low literacy skill. The other problem that students also have is lack of motivation to learn mathematics and taking up new challenge to solve them (Alderman, 2013). These three students mathematically are well ahead of rest of the class buy they struggle with mathematical terminology and worded mathematics problem. Due to lack of literacy skills students are unable to give proper title for the graphs in the assignment due to which they often loose marks. Giving inaccurate answer also goes against literacy continuum strand. The evidence shows that not all students lack literacy skill to interpret the mathematical results. Some of the students have profound mathematical knowledge along with good literacy skills. They are the ones who can interpret the mathematical results well and also give appropriate graph title as the result from the evidence shows (Brophy, 2013). 

There are various strategies that can be implemented by teachers to address and highlight the issue of low literacy skills in students especially for the ones who come from different background and countries. Literacy skill is the most essential, skill that the students should have. If the students do not have the knowledge for what variable should the problem be solved then the problem arises not only for the students but also for the teachers that teach the subject. The issue is serious in case of mathematics because misinterpretation of even one word in the sum will give the wrong result. Hence it is essential for the schools and teachers to solve the problem and improve the core standards of literacy skills in students (Cooper et al., 2014).

The teachers should give special emphasis to the students who are migrant from China and has come to Australia to gain knowledge. The teachers or the professionals can arrange for special classes or extra hours to teach and solve the problems that students face in case of literacy skills. The lessons that the teacher plans to teach in one particular class should be planned. The teacher then should give few extra minutes to go over vocabulary and make the students add the basic terminology and words that are being used for the particular problem (Tomlinson, 2014). This will help the students on understanding the basic terminologies and words that will be used in the lesson. Teachers should assist students to decode the questions. Harsh rules should not be implied on students specially the ones who are not acquainted with the language that is being used. They should be given an opportunity to use alternative formats for assessing the task unless they are able to fully develop the literacy skills that are acceptable (Kolb, 2014). 

Proper interaction and communication with students is also one of the strategies that can be used by the professionals to support the learning needs. The teachers are the ones that create a comfortable environment for the students. It is the responsibility of the teachers to make the students feel safe to work in groups so that the students can raise the problem freely and interact with the teachers. The teachers should interact with the students and know the problems that they face. Individual attention should be give to the ones who are poor in development of literacy skills especially to the students who have come from china. This provides students with an opportunity to use mathematical vocabulary language in class which will over time benefit their literacy skills. It is also essential for the teachers to know the students background in order to teach them and understand their problem (Laurillard, 2013).

Many students also lack motivation to take up new challenge. In this case it is essential for the teachers to motivate the students by creating a new learning experience and making the vocabulary more interesting. New ways of teaching should be adopted by teachers to make the lessons more interesting. Students also face with the problem of inability to retain the lesson learned in class for long period of time. It is essential concern as learning and retaining the lessons is the key to success. The surveyed showed that students were unable to answer the questions that were asked the very next day from the chapter being taught. For example if the problems on graphical solution was taught on day one and if the students were asked questions based on that on day two the result showed that the students failed to recall the concepts (Moon, 2013). 

There are many strategies that can be used to solve the problem of retaining and recalling the concepts taught in class. These include state-dependent recall, done by making connections with what students are learning to something such as various rooms, objects or information that help in the recalling process. Another strategy is chunking, rather than remembering individual information, chunking it up by connections makes it easier to retain and recall. Spaced repetition suggests that it is important to increase time intervals between subsequent reviews of previously learned material. So revision of the previous lesson in the first few minutes of every lesson has proven to enhance student learning and understanding (Van et al.,2013).This can be done by simple techniques such as asking questions and through peer discussions. The students who have problem in retaining and recalling information should be given the experience of visual aid so that they don’t have problem in retaining the information and concept. Proper notes should be given to students so that they can go home and revise the concepts in order to retain the solution. Proper instructions should be given to students stressing the main ideas for the lessons. It is essential for the teachers to have good knowledge of the subject that they teach. Without the knowledge of the subject the teachers won’t be able to make the ideas that they want to convey (Silver, 2013). 

The main aim of the report is to discuss and examine the following research questions:

• How can the professionals support the students learning needs and develop the literacy skills to improve the mathematical knowledge?
• What is the effect of increasing the literacy focus on word problem solving skills in a grade eight mathematics class?

Many concepts are there to explain the concepts of development of literacy skills in mathematical knowledge. Literacy focus refers to the challenges that the linguistics have in learning mathematics. These include the English terms that are used in mathematics such as least, maximum and other linguistics. It also includes understanding proper mathematical terminologies such as trigonometry, compound interests, annuities and others (Race, 2014). 

Word problem also known as problem solving refers to the mathematical problems or questions expressed in terms of hypothetical situation explained in terms of paragraphs or sentences. Word problem is theoretical explanation of mathematical questions. It is essential for the students to be efficient in both English and mathematics in order to solve the word problems. It is essential for the students to have ability to translate the sentence or the paragraph into mathematical equations to solve the problem. For this the students must be efficient in both English and mathematics (Brown & Chandrasekaran, 2014).

The main aim of discussing this section of the report is to identify the issue of linguistics in teaching and learning mathematics that faces English as an additional language. Within a mathematic classroom, particularly during the senior years, linguistic issues are predominantly encountered in word problems (Whimbey et al.,2013). It is also essential to identify the most difficult component of mathematics that is word problems. The review investigates a range of Australian and international policies, research findings and articles; to evaluate the significance of the issue that is considered general from students and teachers perspectives. In addition, strategies and practices that could help students overcome linguistic barriers and improve word problem solving skills are gathered (Hopkins, 2014).

The main issue of linguistic challenge arises is due to diversity of students. These are the students that need additional help in English in developing literacy skills. These are the students that come from another country such as Australia to learn and study. Since the Australian language is different from Chinese it is essential for these students to understand the linguistic in which the theory is being taught in class. Before a student can apply the trigonometric knowledge to calculate the answer to the word problem it is essential to overcome the challenges from both English and the language of mathematics; for example angle of depression, trigonometry, and other word problems and concepts. As a result, the students of class eight are targeted in order to uncover educational approaches and strategies that could help these students overcome the challenges of word problems during their senior years (Earl, 2012). 

The linguistic learning need relates to students who are struggling to simultaneously deal with the difficult mathematics subject content, the language of mathematics and the topical English language. Developing literacy skills helps the student get a clear picture of mathematical knowledge (Xin et al., 2005). Mastering the language of mathematics involves shifting from everyday reading, writing and informal ways of construing knowledge into subject-specific, technical and academic ways that are necessary for disciplinary learning in mathematics. The main issue that hinders the growth of the student in the class is the differences in the linguistics knowledge and value (DuFour & Marzano, 2015). 

The study shows that it is essential to encourage students to work cooperatively with each other in a group so that they get new ideas and knowledge to learn and develop literacy skill. It is also essential to teach students for conceptual understanding and develop children’s procedural literacy. It is also essential for the teachers to promote strategic competence through meaningful problem solving investigation. The teachers should have ability to demonstrate acceptance of student’s divergent ideas. The teachers and the professional should also have the ability to influence learning by posing challenging and interesting questions. It is also essential for the teachers to motivate students to take new challenges. The teachers should also believe in their students that they will be able to do mathematics and solve the problem. Mathematics is not magical or mysterious in nature (DuFour & DuFour, 2013). The students should take up the challenge of solving the problems. Practice makes the man perfect. So it is essential for the students to practice the questions effectively at home. It is also essential for the students to be able to manipulate the results and use various representations to communicate the mathematical knowledge and ideas. It is essential for the teachers to make the theory and literature more innovative such as using color tiles to build in term a sequence and working in groups. The professional learning continues evaluating texts and strategies evaluating a personal interpretation of a text critically (Buehl, 2013). 

Conclusion

Developing professional learning to develop literacy skills and learning is essential in order for the development of student’s knowledge. Fostering mathematical skills require a rich and healthy environment. It is not only essential to develop mathematical skills but it is also essential to understand the problems and transform it into mathematical equations. For this the student requires a great literacy skill and linguistic understanding. The main learning needs that hinder the growth of students are the lack of motivation, lack of power to retain and recover the concept, and lack of literacy skills. The teachers can formulate strategies to develop the literacy skills. Student’s diversity is the main issue due to which it is essential for the teachers to develop the literacy skills. 

References

AAMT. (2014). THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF MATHEMATICS TEACHERS INC.supporting and promoting mathematics education. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from AAMT 2015 conference: https://www.aamt.edu.au/Conferences/AAMT-2015-conference

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