EDSCI 110

EVER JOY P. HINAMPAS APRIL 25, 2014

VISUAL AIDS AND MANIPULATIVES IN MATHEMATICS
In order to draw students attention and to make the lessons more visible and
appreciable, visual aids and manipulatives are used. Manipulatives are visual objects
that give the math students a concrete object to represent the concept more alive and
interesting. They are also valuable with helping students to improve their math skills
interactively. They can also be in the form of games. On the other hand, visual aids
function as a learning tool to help teach the subject to be used in addition to a regular
lesson plan. They function by providing a visual presentation of the subject that is being
learned. They can help children to be interested in the topic at hand. Manipulatives
focuses on the hands-on activities consisting of different materials while visual aids are
for eyes only. Both of them attract students attention and make the lesson more fun
and thrilling.
They are very much important in teaching mathematics. As the lessons become more
difficult, use of those help children who are inclined to learn by sight to become more
interested. They are also a great help to the teachers in delivering the lessons more
tranquil, effective and more appealing to the students. They also help teachers in
delivering difficult lessons easier to comprehend. Aside from it, the usual way of
teaching the lessons become more exciting and more fun visually.
Aside from those, they are also a tool in encouraging students that mathematics is
not a very much difficult subject. In the field of mathematics, it is important to have
variations and techniques in teaching this subject. In lessons where they are being
used, the lessons become more appealing and more sensual.
Sometimes, students tend to be bored and forget the lessons in a shorter period of
time when taught only at the abstract stage ( Sharma, 1997). This is the time when the
mentors usually use visual aids and manipulatives. Aside from they are a great help for
the teachers, they are also a great help for students like me. I can understand more the
lessons when theres a use of visual aids and manipulatives. Aside from they are eye -
catching, they also motivate me to comprehend the lessons further. With their help, I
can easily retain the lessons and remember it for a longer period of time because of the
way the lesson is delivered.
I also noticed that when my teacher uses them, many of us listens to him and is more
active to our discussion. Also, there is more teacher-student interaction. Our
discussions become easier, more thrilling, more entertaining and I am more focused
with it. I love to pay attention in our classes because I find it new to my eyes and lovelier
to look at.
When the time comes that Ill be teaching mathematics, Ill use different kinds of
manipulatives and visual aids in teaching lessons in this subject to make our
discussions easier for pupils to understand and for me to deliver the lesson more
appealing. Also, I will guide them in order to have a more successful and more fruitful
outcomes.