NEW TEACHING METHOD

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 December 1942, Page 6

NEW TEACHING METHOD

ARITHMETIC MADE EASY

SYDNEY, Dec. 15

A revolutionary method of teaching arithmetic, in which mental pictures are brought to children’s minds, was demonstrated by a former Perth (Western Australia) school teacher, Mr. Pi. G. Murdock. With six. children (average age years), he illustrated the method in a talk of Legacy Club members.

The children answered without hesitation problems which would have baffled the average adult. Mr. Murdoch claimed that by this method, pupils learn the fundamentals without any difficulty, and retain their knowledge. Fractions, for instance, said Mr. Murdock, cause the children to visualise a cake which is cut into many parts, or a bar of chocolate, equally divided. Sums are “engines”—and engines must work. Children learn to build their own “engines” to see how they work and to know them thoroughly. They then test them on their friends. In this way, solving a problem is merely the reverse process to constructing one. “I try to teach children so that they become independent of the teacher,” said Mr. Murdock. “They should be trained to see the underlying principle so clearly that they can construct their own questions.” He said the following question was answered mentally in a few seconds by a pupil of nine. “After father added 75 per cent, to the money in my moneybox, I had 6/5. How much did I have in the beginning?”