Teaching Math to Children in Malaysia

Background of study

The following sample essay on Teaching Math to Children in Malaysia Malaysia is a multiracial country that has various cultures, cultural groups, and accent. This diversity becomes a unique feature of Malaysia in worldwide. Offering memorization technique for early childhood is not easy because children accept information explicitly and still cannot think abstract. Therefore, applicable approach and concrete approach can promote effortful learning for the children to understand. Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh mentioned that implementation of early childhood is an effort to cultivate the Malaysian children’s curriculum in a more structural and organize method as well as security, development, and application of a custom of an ethnic support society group that its delivery and transmission take place from generation to generation (The Sun Daily, 2019).

Over the last few decades, the government has given priority Mathematics. According to Chang, Morshidi, and Dzulkifli (2018) technology in education allow Malaysia the edge in evolve into an industrialized nation.

Mathematics stress the significant in assure students achieve creative and thinking critical in their schooling knowledge. Malaysia was positioned 18th overall and had placing of 10th in Mathematics the Trends in International Mathematics Study. A study by Salwani and Salleh (2001) have shown decline of children performance result of high level of mathematics anxiety. The data is compatible with the results of Effandi and Norazah (2008) where there is a significant negative relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance of students (Ministry of Education, 2013). The student performance in mathematics will degrade if the students have math anxiety (Fulya, 2008; Marzita, 2002).

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Before delivering an understanding of early childhood, teachers need to understand and equip with Malaysian culture. Yet, some teachers are still experiencing difficulties in improve knowledge about Malaysian culture, subsequently, they still apply traditional method based on textbooks which is less recorded and monotonous. In fact, Malaysian culture, teachers cannot only apply textbook method, but two-way communication are required. Effective communication between teachers and students in the classroom is very important to create a comfortable class so that students can follow the learning activities with a happy atmosphere.

Games can be applied to improve children’s understanding as it engages children’s interest. Learning while playing is a positive way to implant something new or good manner in early childhood because early childhood is a time when children love to play. According to Hapidin and Yehina (2016), implementation of traditional educative game models can effectively improve the character of early childhood, establish numerous feature holistically and integrated, and build some positive personality. The educative game can also establish a various children hidden traits. Modern educative games can also help children in their growth stage. Monopoly is one of the most favoured present-day games in the world. Until now, the Monopoly game is preferred and played by people. This activity is carried out by using money toys in order for the children to recognize money in early-stage and help them in improving economic intelligence.

From the above studies, it is clear that cognitive abilities in Malaysian has become an issue and can lead to any individual to face several issues in their futures especially their cognitive thinking abilities and problem-solving skills. Hence, it is important to take action on these issues by implement educative games to bring up changes among the students. Therefore, this particular implementation is aim on cognitive abilities in Mathematics performance among the early childhood in Malaysia.

Rationale

Society love games for a various reason. Researchers found that educational games were beneficial for learning content and teamwork (Michaels & Chen, 2005), training decision-making skills (Becker & Watts, 1995), and for build up a healthful psychological setting in a classroom (Zapalska, Rudd, & Flanegin, 2003). Early childhood can easily ingest provided knowledge, especially the knowledge that is presented attractively over a game. Games able to make children promptly figure out the given materials as quartet card game can increase children’s understanding of art diversity of 92.33% of complete evaluation (Karsono et al., 2014). Karsono et al., (2014) research shown that children able to obtain many advantage from the quartet card game or board game.

Children world is a world of play. Through playing, children able to received many lessons that contain cognitive abilities aspect, social, sentimental, and motor growth skills both gross and fine motor skills. Playing can stimulate children to develop in general either the development of cognitive, emotion or social. According to Piaget (2001), children who are aged 2 to 8 years old are children at the preoperational stage which the main traits of development at the stage is the use of symbol or sign language and the development of emotional thought.

After assessing that the effectiveness of the interventions to increase mathematics performance and cognitive abilities among early childhood, by strengthening the interventions to early childhood may increase mathematics performance and cognitive abilities among early childhood. It is important to identify that the intervention recommend is available and suitable to be used in our country.

Furthermore, there is not much consideration given to this issue in Malaysia. There are only a few interventions about increase mathematics performance and cognitive abilities among early childhood been done in Malaysia. There will be a great difference in inappropriate interventions taking account of the social norms and cultural context. This intervention will fill the gap for the cross-cultural issue but also to understand better about the solution and intervention to counter react with this issue. This study will enable to provide more information for future intervention.

Problem Statement

The study found that there is an inverse relationship between the level of mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance of students. High Mathematics anxiety able to unrestrained and would have negative result for students (Arem, 2003; Marzita, 2002). Effandi and Norazah (2008) and Elenchonthy (2007) studies have found that the majority of Malaysian students have a moderate level of mathematics anxiety. Marzita (2002) have found that many factors brought to the mathematics anxiety such as modules weakness, negative understanding in mathematics, stress and family anticipation, teacher’s temper and tutoring style, dreams and peer pressure.

The decrease in mathematics achievement has created anxiety in students and strengthen the perception that they are weak in math. This feedback will yet be a judgement that difficult to change. Majority of the student’s experience math anxiety since early childhood (McNeil, 1999). The fear is conveyed by school teachers by the tutoring ways. Traditional approaches such as lecturing, tutoring skills beyond the priority on the idea has been identified as factors that contribute to mathematics anxiety. According to Fulya (2008), Elenchoty (2007) and Marzita (2002), their study has shown that mathematics anxiety had become one of the factors contributing to the decline of the mathematical achievements of the students.

The ability to use cognitive abilities in learning is essential for meaningful learning to take place (Stendall 2009). Nevertheless, most of the students have drawback in using these cognitive abilities in learning adequately. Most of them were proclaimed to struggling in making accurate perceptions and analysis, memorizing and retrieve knowledge, giving concentrations and abilities to use logic thinking (Tarzimah et al., 2009; Ismail 2009). In the TIMSS report by Olson et al., (2008) had showed that most of the Malaysian had significantly low achievement in cognitive dimension which emphasized on thinking skills and analytic skills. The skills are divided into three domains which are knowledge, application, and reasoning. This statement showed that students did not acquire mathematics skills needed especially in problem-solving.

Many of them are still struggling and this finding should not be taken delicately. It is important to get a decisive understanding of this problem. One of the solution is to produce fruitful individual’s skills to acquire problem-solving and making the decision. If the crisis in mathematical skills not able addressed, more effective programs could be prepared to assist those study.