In this report, we want to touch upon two aspects of teaching mathematics in middle and high school. The first of them is the eternal question of how to teach, to motivate students and make them involved in the educat...In this report, we want to touch upon two aspects of teaching mathematics in middle and high school. The first of them is the eternal question of how to teach, to motivate students and make them involved in the educational process, particularly in mathematics, where the most important factor is the natural gifts. The second aspect concerns the question which became very urgent in the modern world： what, in fact, we want to teach the students in a world over-saturated with information of any kind. As a result of the information blowup, two aspects emerge. On the one hand, straight passing over the skills and knowledge to the students becomes irrelevant today （just like a teacher or lecturer, merely speaking to an audience, who is not that relevant for young people, accustomed from childhood to perceive information through dynamic color visuals）. On the other hand, there is a change in emphasis in the objective function of the educational process from gaining knowledge to acquisition of skills of working with information, consideration and estimation, and choosing of the optimal strategy of a number of possibilities. This trend can be seen in the selection of problems in the international examination PISA （Program for international Student Assessment）, in the new curriculum in mathematics and in the selection of problems in the matriculation exams. These considerations （along with others） make teachers took for rtew forms of teaming, more appropriate to the demands of modernity. In this report we suggest the idea of using a mathematical competition called ＂Mathematical debate＂ （mathematical fight） as an integral part of the educational process at different levels of learning mathematics, as an appropriate tool.展开更多
文摘In this report, we want to touch upon two aspects of teaching mathematics in middle and high school. The first of them is the eternal question of how to teach, to motivate students and make them involved in the educational process, particularly in mathematics, where the most important factor is the natural gifts. The second aspect concerns the question which became very urgent in the modern world： what, in fact, we want to teach the students in a world over-saturated with information of any kind. As a result of the information blowup, two aspects emerge. On the one hand, straight passing over the skills and knowledge to the students becomes irrelevant today （just like a teacher or lecturer, merely speaking to an audience, who is not that relevant for young people, accustomed from childhood to perceive information through dynamic color visuals）. On the other hand, there is a change in emphasis in the objective function of the educational process from gaining knowledge to acquisition of skills of working with information, consideration and estimation, and choosing of the optimal strategy of a number of possibilities. This trend can be seen in the selection of problems in the international examination PISA （Program for international Student Assessment）, in the new curriculum in mathematics and in the selection of problems in the matriculation exams. These considerations （along with others） make teachers took for rtew forms of teaming, more appropriate to the demands of modernity. In this report we suggest the idea of using a mathematical competition called ＂Mathematical debate＂ （mathematical fight） as an integral part of the educational process at different levels of learning mathematics, as an appropriate tool.
