To develop appreciation for mathematics among children, a teacher performs the…
2023
To develop appreciation for mathematics among children, a teacher performs the following activities in the class. Choose the one which is not effective to achieve her objective.
- A.
She always praises the student who achieves highest marks in the class in the term-end examination.
- B.
She shows to children the videos on Indian mathematicians and their contributions.
- C.
She gives mathematical puzzles and magic squares to be solved in the class.
- D.
She establishes a mathematics corner in her class where students can perform various mathematical activities.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: Developing "appreciation" for a subject is an affective (attitudinal) teaching objective. It is built primarily through activities that let every child in the class connect positively with the subject on their own terms, rather than through activities that reward exam performance alone.
Application: Showing videos on Indian mathematicians and their contributions, giving mathematical puzzles and magic squares, and setting up a mathematics corner all invite children to engage directly with mathematics through story, play, or hands-on exploration — each is a recognised route to building appreciation. Praising the student who scores the highest marks in the term-end examination, however, ties the teacher's positive attention to a single child's comparative rank on one test; it channels the class's focus toward competition and marks rather than toward mathematics itself, and it is this activity that fails to achieve the objective of building appreciation.
Cross-check — the mechanism behind each activity that does build appreciation:
Videos on Indian mathematicians and their contributions link mathematics to real people and its cultural and historical journey, giving children a human connection to the subject.
Mathematical puzzles and magic squares turn number-work into a playful challenge attempted for its own sake, independent of any test.
A mathematics corner gives children ongoing, self-directed access to mathematical activities and materials, letting them explore mathematics at their own pace outside any graded task.
Therefore, among the described activities, praising only the term-end topper is the one that does not build appreciation for mathematics across the class.