#mindset #concept #self-confidence #curiosity #creativity
When tutoring students, regardless of the grade and subject, whether it’s math tutoring or chemistry tutoring, the main issue they face is not understanding the why behind the concepts and formulas they learn. For example, students will immediately calculate the slope when assigned a linear graph to analyze because they are taught to do that. However, if you ask them:«Why do you calculate the slope? They will answer:« In class, my teacher told us to do it»
In other words, students learn formulas, rules, and strategies and how to apply them but not the why of these rules and what circumstances and questions led to their discovery. In the case of the relation graph, students are clueless as to why they need to calculate the slope. And as long as students do not have answers to the why of the concepts they learn, they will be bored, stressed, and overwhelmed, or for some, not challenged enough in school.
Now let’s think about the real-life situations that led to the discovery and creation of the concepts and rules. Let’s put these real-life situations in front of the students and allow them to discover the concepts and rules. Then, the learning will take a whole new meaning.
We are not reinventing the wheel here but allowing students to use their creativity and think for themselves. This approach completely changed the class dynamic with my high school math students. In the first week, students expected a lesson on white board with step-by-step explanations and examples. Once they understood the expectations and put their feet in the shoes of the scientist who came up with the laws and rules, most students were on board.
Math classes became discovery classes. As a result, the class momentum changed utterly. Students exchanged ideas with their classmates, argued, discussed their results, and were involved in their learning. Moreover, students gained self-confidence when they realized they could develop the same rules as the imminent mathematicians who stated them the first time. Once working on word problems, students focused more on finding the best strategies than on the answers. This mindset shift and the boost in self-confidence improved students’ grades drastically.