CREATIVE ASSIGNMENTS IN LESSONS OF MATHEMATICS

PROJECT: MATHEMATICS! MATHEMATICS? MATHEMATICS...

By VIOLETA BUGAILIŠKYTĖ,

a mathematics teacher-methodologist at Mykolas Biržiška High School in Vilnius

SUMMARY

Mykolas Biržiška High School is a four-year school. Pupils who enter it previously studied in different schools. Children do not known each other and nobody knows their abilities and possibilities. While working together, everybody may have opportunities for self-expression. With this idea in mind, the project MATHEMATICS! MATHEMATICS? MATHEMATICS... has been developed. The project was continued over the last year and a half with participation of pupils from 1^st and 2^nd classes.

Creative assignments within the framework of this project encourage the pupils in discovering connections between mathematics and real-world situations, and the relevance and application of this science. The project-related work is aimed at the integration of knowledge acquired in mathematics and information technologies, Lithuanian language, English language, Russian language, music and art.

The project is drawn up in two parts. The first part includes creative assignments in subject matters according to current topics of the syllabus of instruction. For the pupils from lower classes of the gymnasium, two creative assignments were given. While studying “The Function” and “Plane Geometry”, the pupils were engaged in the creative assignment “We Draw Graphs of Functions” and “Compositions of Geometric Figures”, respectively. The second part of the project includes creative projects that were carried out within a period of five months. The pupils may choose from a list of topics (a topic also may be original) such as “Mathematics in Animation”, “Origami and Geometry”, “The Function and Proverbs”, “Mathematical Illusions” or “The Privileges of the Number ‘3’”. When carrying out such assignments, the pupils have the opportunity to know the mathematics from different perspective, i.e. something different as compared to a gathering of rather boring facts, theorems or problems in a manual.

The requirements that the pupils have to meet when carrying out the assignments and criteria of assessment are described in this work.