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Full Length Research Paper
EXPLORING THE ESSENTIALS OF SETTING UP STANDARD MATHEMATICS LABORATORY IN SCHOOLS: THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS MODEL
Jekayinfa Olatunji James and Durojaiye David Sunday
National Mathematical Centre, Abuja.
Abstract: This paper focused on the strategic importance of Mathematics Laboratory in the teaching and learning of Mathematics at all levels of education. The paper pointed out the unsatisfactory performance of students in Mathematics as been majorly caused by inefficient teaching methods adopted by Mathematics teachers. The effectiveness of laboratory method in teaching Mathematics especially at the primary and secondary school levels was also emphasized. The paper further gave an extensive list of important items needed to set up a good Mathematics Laboratory in schools, with pictures/photos of such items juxtaposed for easy recognition and identification by stakeholders in the event of setting up Mathematics Laboratories in their schools. It was recommended among others that governments and other school proprietors/proprietresses should as a matter of priority establish mathematics laboratories in their schools like other sciences laboratories.
Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Introduction
Mathematics teaching and learning at all levels of education especially at the primary and
secondary school levels is expected to come with activities that will involve the students both
practically and concretely, which in turn is expected to stimulate logical and meaningful thinking
in them. Bruner (1957) posited that the outcome of cognitive development is thinking. This
position is in agreement with the fifth goal of teaching Mathematics in Nigerian secondary
schools which is to develop precise, abstract and logical thinking (F.R.N., 2014). This
educational goal can be achieved only through the employment of a deliberately well designed
teaching technique such as the Mathematics laboratory teaching technique.
Vol. 5(7), pp. 314-325, November 2019 ISSN 2315-5396 DOI: 10.14412/SRI2019.325 Copyright© 2019 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article Available online at http://www.scienceparkjournals.org/SRI
Scientific Research and Impact
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The goal of teaching Mathematics at the primary and secondary schools can be said to be
achieved when meaningful learning has taken place (Kurumeh, 2015). Meaningful learning
outcome cannot be achieved without the use of relevant resource materials. By
resource/teaching materials, we mean the different types of materials that the teacher uses in
the teaching and learning processes to bring about meaningful and productive learning.
These materials include mathematics models, charts, shapes of different kinds, texts, videos,
software, hardware, mathematics kits in mathematics laboratories and so on. Resource
materials help both the teachers and learners in the teaching and learning processes. They
(instructional materials) help the teacher to introduce and explain the topics or content to the
learners in such a way that the learners have clearer and better understanding without the
teacher laboring as much. On the part of the learners, resource/teaching materials provide
opportunity to learners to understand and internalize the basic mathematical concepts through
interaction of concrete objects. Teaching materials also help learners’ active participation in the
teaching and learning processes. Active learning through the use of mathematics laboratories is
a trending issue in Mathematics education. According to Bruner (1961), learning is a very active
process in which the student is directly involved in the manipulation of the content in the three
modes of representation. To be successful in learning new content, the learners must be
actively engaged in the process; not sitting quietly and listening to a teacher explain something.
Students must be taught to discover. Active learning is important according to Bruner because it
provides the opportunity for students to discover and construct their own meaning rather than
simply memorizing the meaning someone else has assigned to something. All these can be
achieved through the establishment and intelligent use of Mathematics laboratories.
Mathematics Laboratory
According to Hynes, Hynes, Kysilka, & Brumbaugh (1973), Bernard (1972) in his dissertation,
‘The Historical Development of the Laboratory Approach to Elementary School Mathematics,’
traced the concept of Mathematics laboratory to 1895 when A.R. Hornbrook wrote her book,
Laboratory Methods of Teaching Mathematics in Secondary Schools. Since that time,
Mathematics Laboratory has received regular attention as a teaching technique.
The Mathematics Laboratory is a place, rich in manipulative material, to which learners have
ready access to handle them, perform mathematical experiments, play mathematical games,
solve mathematical puzzles and become involved in other activities (Amol, 2014). In a similar
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view, Adenuga (2003) sees mathematics laboratory as ‘a unique room or place, with relevant
and up-to-date equipment known as instructional materials, designated for the teaching and
learning of mathematics and other scientific or research work. Also, Igbokwe (2000)defined
Mathematics laboratory as ‘a place where students can learn and explore various mathematical
concepts and verify different mathematical facts and theories using varieties of activities and
material’. Just like other science laboratories, Mathematics laboratories house all mathematics
equipment, models, charts and instructional materials in an orderly manner for the purpose of
teaching and learning some mathematics topics in a practical way. In the Mathematics
laboratory, experiments are carried out, Mathematics topics are taught practically and abstract
topics are concretized with the equipment and instructional materials available in the laboratory.
The thinking faculties of the learners are activated for discovery learning with the appropriate
use of the Mathematics laboratory.
The present call on Mathematics laboratories is partially as a result of the trend in educational
philosophy and psychology which advocates active rather than passive learning; involvement in
learning, critical thinking and inquiry. Durojaiye (2018), opined that learners must be allowed to
touch, handle, manipulate, carry, move, observe, measure, weigh, write, read, discuss, etc. In
the mathematics laboratory; the teacher only leads or guides the learners to discover new
things.
Purposes/Advantages of Mathematics Laboratories
The advantages of establishing and using mathematics laboratory in schools cannot be over
emphasized. According to Amol (2014), Central Board of Secondary Education (2005), Singh,
Autar, & Singh (Undated)) and Durojaiye, (2018), the purposes of mathematics laboratories in
schools include:
Provision for the learners readily handy rich manipulative materials.
Provision of an opportunity to learners to understand and internalize the basic
mathematical concepts through concrete objects and situations.
Development of learners’ participation in order to add new ideas to their cognitive
structure.
To make learners experience with real-world embodiments of mathematical ideas.
To emphasis on Activity-based learning (i.e. Learning by doing).
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To provide learners with opportunities to verify, discover and understand mathematical
concept through their active participation in manipulation of materials and solving
problems
To develop the thinking faculty of learners and make them look for patterns and ask
questions.
To develop the learners attitude of curiosity and inquisitiveness.
The Mathematics laboratory allows and encourages the learners to think, discuss with
each other and the teacher and assimilate the concepts in a more effective manner.
Enables the teacher to demonstrate, explain and reinforce abstract mathematical ideas
by using concrete objects, models, charts, graphs, pictures, posters, videos, computer
animations, etc.
It helps the learners to build interest and confidence in learning the subject.
The Mathematics laboratory provides opportunity to exhibit the relatedness of
mathematical concepts with everyday life.
Pool of storage of mathematical materials for easy access
Minimum guidelines for setting up befitting Mathematics Laboratory
The following are suggested for an ideal maths laboratory:
a. Design and general layout
Dimension - 40 x 30 feet room Accommodation for 35 to 40 learners (Amol, 2014).
b. Physical infrastructure
Enough ventilation, electricity light and air furniture - desks, chairs, blackboard, display
board (Amol, 2014).
c. Essential equipment like OHP and LCD. Raw materials like card board, mount board,
different types of papers, writing material (Amol, 2014).
d. Human Resources
It is desirable that a person with minimum qualification of Bachelor degree in
Mathematics Education be made in charge of the Mathematics Laboratory (Cental Board
of Secondary Education, 2005). He/she is expected to have special skills and interest to
carry out practical work in the subject. The concerned mathematics teacher will
accompany the class to the laboratory and the two will jointly conduct the desired
activities.
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e. Cupboards/shelves should be made available where materials/equipments that can
easily spoil or destroy can be kept. Also, some materials/equipments that are
produced/procured in excess can be kept in the cupboards.
Equipment/Models in a mathematics laboratory: The following equipment and instructional
materials are expected to be in a standard mathematics laboratory:
1. All types of plane shapes (rectangles, squares, triangles, circles, parallelograms,
rhombi, trapeziums, kites, etc );
2. All types of solid shapes (cuboids, cubes, cylinders, cones, pyramids, prisms, tc);
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3. Nets of solid shapes;
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4. Inclinators/Clinometer;
5. Geotrigmetric boards;
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6. Geo boards (rectangular, circular and isometric);
7. Quadratic equation boxes;
8. Circular area demonstrators;
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9. Pythagoras rule boards;
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10. Sets’ theory boards;
Others includeMeasuring scales, Measuring tapes, Counters, Projector, a Set of Computer
(desk or lap top), Internet service, Writing boards (white board and graph board), Sets of
mathematical instruments, World globe, Mathematics Charts, Mathematics Games, Rubik
cubes, Abacus, Cutters (scissors, blades, clippers, shears), Pins, Treads, ropes, ribbons,
rubber bands, etc, Books and journals, Portraits of Mathematicians and so on.
Conclusion
The 21st century mathematics teachers are expected to teach with modern instructional
materials. This can be achieved through the establishment of well equipped mathematics
laboratories in our schools. With the right and relevant equipment at the disposal of the teachers
to teach mathematics, the goals and objectives of mathematics education can be achieved. This
paper therefore recommends very strongly that (1) governments and other school
proprietors/proprietresses should as a matter of priority establish mathematics laboratories in
their schools like other sciences laboratories. (2) Seminars and/or worships should be organized
for mathematics teachers in secondary schools on the use of mathematics laboratory. It is the
belief of these researchers that students taught with mathematics laboratory may achieve better
than when taught without the facility.
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References
Adenuga, K. E. (2019). Setting up Mathematics Laboratory. Retrieved from
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Cite this article as:
Jekayinfa and Durojaiye (2019) EXPLORING THE ESSENTIALS OF SETTING UP
STANDARD MATHEMATICS LABORATORY IN SCHOOLS: THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS MODEL.
SRI 5(7) 314-326
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