Therefore, lessons must be presented in a variety of ways. For example, different ways to teach a new concept can be through play acting, cooperative groups, visual aids, hands on activities and technology. Learners are different than they were forty years ago. Students today have a need for practical math. Therefore, math needs to be relevant to their everyday lives.
Students enjoy experimenting.
To learn mathematics, students must be engaged in exploring, conjecturing, and thinking rather than, engaged only in rote learning of rules and procedures. Students' prior negative experiences in math class and at home when learning math are often transferred and cause a lack of understanding of mathematics. According to Sheila Tobias, millions of adults are blocked from professional and personal opportunities because they fear or perform poorly in mathematics for many, these negative experiences remain throughout their adult lives. Math is often associated with pain and frustration. For instance, unpaid bills, unforeseen debts, unbalanced checkbooks, IRS forms are a few of the negative experiences associated with numbers.