Varsity Don Seeks Improvement in Students’ Learning of Maths

Funmi Ogundare

A Professor in the Faculty of Education, Department of Science and Technology, University of Ibadan, Mojeed Kolawole Akinsola, has called for an improvement in students’ learning of mathematics through their study habit and attitude, orientation, guidance and counselling, holding friendly competition in the subject.

Akinsola who said this recently while delivering his inaugural lecture titled ‘Demystification of Mathematics: Glimpses from the Lens of a Mathematics Educator’, stressed the need to encourage members of mathematics club and parents to monitor their children’s study habit.

He added that the ministries of education in various states should also organise annual workshop during the long vacation for teachers of mathematics so as to equip them with new research findings in the field of Mathematics Education.

According to him, “this will enable the mathematics teacher to gain new insight into better ways of teaching the subject. The government should recognise mathematically knowledgeably teachers as having a centre role in Mathematics Education, as this will encourage rigorously evaluated initiatives for attracting and appropriately declaring prospective teachers for evaluation; and retaining effective Mathematics teachers through encouraging financial take home pay.

Prof. Akinsola emphasised the need for collaboration between researchers and practitioners, adding that instructional practice should be informed by highly quality research when available and by the best professional judgement and experience of accomplished classroom teachers.

“Thus, research findings should be made available to the classroom teachers through workshops every year, during long vacations to be spare headed by National Mathematical Center (NMC), Abuja and in collaboration with various ministries of education.

The don described mathematics as a powerful instructional tool for understanding nature, saying that the subject uses quantitative symbols to express universal truth and has been a driving force for virtually all culture.