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Experiencing Singapore MathN e w a r k E a s t B r u n s w i c k

Yeap Ban HarMarshall Cavendish Institute

Singapore

yeapbanhar@gmail.com

Slides are available atwww.banhar.blogspot.com

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Land 270 sq miles

People 4.7 million

GDP per capita 1965 USD510 2010 USD43,300

in current USD

Junyuan Secondary School, Singapore

introduction

General Overview of Singapore and its Education System

General Overview of Singapore and its Education System

Students 500 000

Teachers 30 000

Principals & Vice-Principals 900

Schools 173 Primary Schools (Primary 1 – 6) 155 Secondary Schools (Secondary 1 – 4) 13 Junior Colleges (JC 1 – 2) 15 Mixed-Level Schools

The data refers to 1-12 school system. Pre-school is not part of the formal education system. The data excludes post-secondary education system which includes institutes of technical education, polytechnics and universities.

Canossa Convent Primary School, Singapore

High achievement was not a given. In 1960, among 30 615 candidates who sat for the first Primary School Leaving Examination, 45% of the candidates passed.

Keon Ming Public School, Singapore

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Score 1960-1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

500 Japan JapanKorea

Hong Kong

JapanKorea

SingaporeHong Kong

JapanKorea

Hong KongSingapore

400 Thailand SingaporeThailand

The Philippines

MalaysiaThailand

MalaysiaThailand

300 IndonesiaThe Philippines

IndonesiaThe Philippines

Reference: E. Hanusek, D. Jamison, E. Jamison & L. Woessmann (2008)

All major international tests (literacy, science and mathematics) between 1964 and 2003 were placed on a common scale. Selected countries shown in the table.

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1992Introduction of Problem-

Solving Curriculum

1997Thinking SchoolsLearning Nation

1982Introduction of Singapore mathematics

textbooks as they are known today.

2001Introduction of textbooks published by

private publishers and approved by Ministry of Education.

2007New editions of textbooks are

published with the introduction of the revised curriculum.

Mathematics is “an excellent vehicle for the

development and improvement of a person’s intellectual competence”.

Ministry of Education Singapore 2006

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Page 4

Singapore

Taiwan

Japan

Hong Kong

Att

itude

Ach

ievem

en

t

71 41

67 40

50 24

62 23

Gra

de 4

Kazakhstan

Russia

International

England

89 19

62 16

80 16

72 5

Taiwan

Singapore

Hong Kong

S Korea

Att

itude

Ach

ievem

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t

37 45

33 40

60 40

47 31

Gra

de 8

Japan

England

International

Hungary

30 26

30 10

40 8

54 2

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Experiencing Singapore MathInitial Concrete Experiences & Building Conceptual Understanding

Yeap Ban HarMarshall Cavendish Institute

Singapore

yeapbanhar@gmail.com

Slides are available atwww.banhar.blogspot.com

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Relational Understanding R Skemp

Concrete Introduction J Bruner

Junyuan Secondary School, Singapore

what & how

Page 08Page 13

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Page 5

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Share 3 fourths equally among 3.

3 fourths 3 = 1 fourth

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Share 3 fourths equally between 2.

3 fourths 2 = 6 eighths 2= 3 eighths

Share 3 fourths equally among 4.

3 fourths 4 = 12 sixteenths 4= 3 sixteenths

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12 cookies 4

12 pieces 4

12 sixteenths 4

12 tenths 4

12 x 4

12 cookies 4 cookies

12 pieces 4 pieces

12 x 4 x

34÷1434÷12

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Experiencing Singapore MathEmphasis on Number Sense & Visualization

Yeap Ban HarMarshall Cavendish Institute

Singapore

yeapbanhar@gmail.com

Slides are available atwww.banhar.blogspot.com

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King Solomon Academy, London

King Solomon Academy, London

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King Solomon Academy, London

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Globe Academy, London

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Globe Academy, London

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Globe Academy, London

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emphasis visualization

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Page 15

3 units = 181 units = 18 3 = 6

6 x 8 = 48There were 48 coins at first.