Every teacher—and every parent for that matter—has seen it. The student who explained a geometry concept in class yesterday is panicking during today’s review of the very same topic. The young woman who completed her homework easily last week is completely confused this week.
How do students forget new skills so soon after they are taught?
In a recent article that appeared in Education Week’s online edition, Nicole Smith brings focus to the problem. “Whether it is a student who is struggling with remembering new knowledge or applying old knowledge, the problem is the same. New learning is heavily dependent upon old mastery, and quite often students are unable to access prior knowledge in order to move forward in their learning.”
“The best way to achieve mastery is through practice, but that is something students are often reluctant to do where math is concerned,” explains First In Math creator Robert Sun. “In basketball, when we shoot a free-throw and miss, the feedback through our physical senses is immediate, and we make mental and physical adjustments before our next try. When a child is solving mathematics problems alone at home or on a worksheet in class, there isn’t any built-in feedback, and not much active learning. Math can quickly become a meaningless, boring undertaking for many students.”
In contrast, First In Math’s digital gaming modules encourage students to practice the way they willingly do for sports and other activities. “As a gaming-based practice program with short cycles of play, First In Math provides the lively interaction and instant feedback students crave, along with the amount of Deep Practice necessary for skill retention, according to Sun. “Students learn by repeating, reassessing and fine-tuning skills, and are able to continually analyze and internalize new approaches to problem solving.”
“Young minds must be able to build pathways of memory, and the only way to really do this is through creative, interactive repetition,” says former teacher and current FIM Implementation Specialist Monica Patel, who explains that practice—at three times the amount of instruction time—is necessary for students to master new math skills.
“This is where a comprehensive math-practice tool like First In Math is essential—there is simply nothing like it.”
Look for Part Two, to be published December 6, 2016.