Experiencing Singapore Math W a n d s w o r t h , L o n d o n O c t o b e r 2 0 1 2
Yeap Ban Har
Marshall Cavendish Institute Singapore
Slides are available at
www.banhar.blogspot.com
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Land 270 sq miles
700 sq km
People 5.3 million
GDP per capita 1965 USD500
2011 USD50 000 in current USD
Junyuan Secondary School, Singapore
introduction
General Overview of Singapore and its
Education System
Students 500 000
Teachers 30 000
Principals & Vice-Principals 900
Schools 173 Primary Schools (Primary 1 – 6) 155 Secondary Schools (Secondary 1 – 4) 13 Junior Colleges (JC 1 – 2) 15 Mixed-Level Schools
The data refers to 1-12 school system. Pre-school is not part of the formal education system. The data excludes post-secondary education system which includes institutes of technical education, polytechnics and universities.
Canossa Convent Primary School, Singapore
High achievement was not a given. In 1960,
among 30 615 candidates who sat for the
first Primary School Leaving Examination,
45% of the candidates passed.
Keon Ming Public School, Singapore
Today, about the
same proportion
achieve the
highest grade in
each of the four
subjects tested.
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Score 1960-1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
500 Japan Japan Korea
Hong Kong
Japan Korea
Singapore Hong Kong
Japan Korea
Hong Kong Singapore
400 Thailand Singapore Thailand
The Philippines
Malaysia Thailand
Malaysia Thailand
300 Indonesia The Philippines
Indonesia The Philippines
Reference: E. Hanusek, D. Jamison, E. Jamison & L. Woessmann (2008)
All major international tests (literacy, science and mathematics) between 1964 and 2003 were placed on a common scale. Selected countries shown in the table.
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1992 Introduction of Problem-
Solving Curriculum
1997 Thinking Schools Learning Nation
1982 Introduction of Singapore mathematics
textbooks as they are known today. 2001 Introduction of textbooks published by
private publishers and approved by Ministry of Education.
2007 New editions of textbooks are
published with the introduction of the revised curriculum.
Mathematics is “an excellent
vehicle for the development and
improvement of a person’s
intellectual competence”. Ministry of Education Singapore 2006
Page 1
2013 New editions of textbooks are
published with the revision of the curriculum.
Singapore
Taiwan
Japan
Hong Kong
Att
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Ac
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71 41
67 40
50 24
62 23
Gra
de
4
Kazakhstan
Russia
International
England
89 19
62 16
80 16
72 5
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Taiwan
Singapore
Hong Kong
S Korea
Att
itu
de
Ac
hie
ve
me
nt
37 45
33 40
60 40
47 31
Gra
de
8
Japan
England
International
Hungary
30 26
30 10
40 8
54 2
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Shanghai
Hong Kong
S Korea
Singapore
Me
an
600
562
555
546
15
ye
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old
s
Taiwan
Liechtenstein
International
Finland
543
541
536
496
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110 g
? ?
2 units = 290 g – 110 g = 180 g
1 units = 180 g 2 = 90 g
3 x 90 g = 270 g Bella puts 270 g sugar on the dish.
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Experiencing Singapore Math Initial Concrete Experiences & Building Conceptual Understanding
Yeap Ban Har
Marshall Cavendish Institute Singapore
Slides are available at
www.banhar.blogspot.com
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Relational Understanding
R Skemp
Concrete Introduction J Bruner
Junyuan Secondary School, Singapore
what & how
Page 08
Page 13
3 fourths 4 = 12 sixteenths 4 = 3 sixteenths
3 fourths 4 = 1
4×
3
4
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Share 3 fourths equally between 2.
3 fourths 2 = 6 eighths 2 = 3 eighths
Share 3 fourths equally among 4.
3 fourths 4 = 12 sixteenths 4 = 3 sixteenths
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12 cookies 4 12 pieces 4 12 sixteenths 4 12 tenths 4 12 x 4
12 cookies 4 cookies 12 pieces 4 pieces 12 x 4 x
3
4÷1
4
3
4÷1
2
Page 13
Primary 2
Primary 4
Primary 5
Professional Development at Wandsworth, London
In Singapore syllabus, topics are developed in a systematics way with ample time in
between ideas. This is based on Bruner’s Spiral Approach.
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Experiencing Singapore Math Emphasis on Number Sense & Visualization
Yeap Ban Har Marshall Cavendish Institute
Singapore
Slides are available at
www.banhar.blogspot.com
See Ho, S. Y. & Yeap, B. H. (2011). Development of Visualization Skills in Singapore Primary
School Mathematics Textbooks. Paper presented at PME-35 Angkara, Turkey.
See also Yeap, B. H. (2011). The Emphasis of Primary-Level Textbooks in Singapore on
Higher-Order Thinking Skills. Paper presented at International Conference on School
Mathematics Textbooks Shanghai, China.
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Primary Mathematics (Third Edition)
Visuals are used to teach
concepts – distributive
property of multiplication
– without using formal
terms.
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Primary Mathematics (Third Edition)