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Maths laboratory

Maths laboratory offers multiple teaching & learning aids, comprising technology applications, videos, measuring instruments, models, statistical tables and charts to allow the students to imagine, investigate and interact. Mathematics Laboratory is a place where students can learn and explore mathematical concepts and verify mathematical facts and theorems through a variety of activities using different aids. These activities are carried out by the teacher for the benefit of the students to facilitate them to explore, learn, stimulate, and develop favorable attitude towards mathematics.
The concepts when made easier, enable students to relate their Maths skills with day to day life. Our children rejoice mathematics rather than developing a phobia for it. With the laboratory activities, understanding Maths has become easier & joyful. The Math’s lab enables the students to learn mathematics in an interesting and experiential way. Learning the concepts through practical approach has a lasting impact on students and they are able to apply this knowledge in real life situations.

The mathematics laboratory is a place where anybody can experiment and explore teaching and learning material. It is a place where one can find a collection of games, puzzles, and etc.

The materials are meant to be used both by the students on their own and with their teacher to explore the world of mathematics, to discover, to learn and to develop an interest in mathematics. The activities create interest among students or in anybody who wants to explore, and test some of their ideas, beliefs about mathematics.

The activities in the maths lab should be appealing to a wide range of people, of different ages and varying mathematical proficiency. While the initial appeal is broad-based, the level of engagement of different individuals may vary. The maths lab activities listed here have been done with students and teachers of different grade levels.

The maths lab provides an opportunity for the students to discover mathematics through doing. Many of the activities present a problem or a challenge, with the possibility of generating further challenges and problems. The activities help students to visualize, manipulate and reason. They provide opportunity to make conjectures and test them, and to generalize observed patterns. They create a context for students to attempt to prove their conjectures.

It is important to note that while in science experiments provide evidence for hypotheses or theories, this is not so in mathematics. Observed patterns can only suggest mathematical hypotheses and conjectures, not provide evidence to support them. (Sometimes, they may help to disprove a conjecture through a counter-example.)

Mathematical truths are accepted only on the basis of proofs, and not through experiment. Mathematics laboratory is a place to enjoy mathematics through informal exploration. It is a place where anyone can generate problems and struggle to get a answer. It is a space to explore and design new mathematical activities. So, the maths lab should not be used to assess students’ knowledge of mathematics. Often mathematics lab takes students knowledge beyond the curriculum.

NEED AND PURPOSE:

Some of the ways in which a Mathematics Laboratory can contribute to the learning of the subject are:

  • It provides an opportunity to students to understand and internalize the basic mathematical concepts through concrete objects and situations.
  • It enables the students to verify or discover several geometrical properties and facts using models or by paper cutting and folding techniques.
  • It helps the students to build interest and confidence in learning the subject.
  • The laboratory provides opportunity to exhibit the relatedness of mathematical concepts with everyday life.
  • It provides greater scope for individual participation in the process of learning and becoming autonomous learns.
  • The laboratory allows and encourages the students to think, discuss with each other and the teacher and assimilate the concepts in a more effective manner.
  • It enables the teacher to demonstrate, explain and reinforce abstract mathematical ideas by using concrete objects, models, charts, graphs, pictures, etc.