Reasoning

Reasoning in maths is recognised as knowing and doing mathematics (NRICH, 2014). Reasoning allows pupils in school to make practise of all their skills in mathematics and reasoning is thought of as the topic that helps all mathematical questions and problems make sense (NRICH, 2014). Reasoning plays a very important role in the mathematics National Curriculum and is tested on children at the end of every key stage meaning it is extremely important that children are taught to fully understand reasoning in order to prepare them for these tests (Oxford Primary, 2017).

Reasoning may be needed to complete many maths questions in the classroom, for example when a child is first presented with a new mathematical challenge, reasoning will help them to focus on the relevant knowledge that they may already have relating to the challenge, this will vary from child to child depending on their memory of their past experiences with maths (NRICH, 2014). By asking a child to verbally communicate their reasoning on a maths questions is a good way to demonstrate how well they understand the maths or areas that need improvement (Evans, 2017). Being vocal about maths questions encourages children to justify and explain their method of thinking and can also help other students in the classroom gain a better understanding about topics that they may have been unsure about but were too shy to ask for help (Evans, 2017). 

Using reasoning in the classroom does not have to made difficult, for example in a room full of primary school children you could take 50p and ask them to come up with as many ideas as they can as to how they can have fun with just 50p. Some children may need to be reminded that they cannot exceed the limit of 50p and must think carefully about what they can spend their money on. Some answers could be playing heads or tails, buying some sweets from a pick n mix shop or even a game of pool. 

Some people may question problem solving in maths and think, why teach problem solving? Firstly, in Donaldson’s new curriculum he suggests that numeracy should become the responsibility of all teachers as it is essential to developing thinking, learning and life skills for children and should be developed across the whole curriculum, not just in maths lessons (Gov Wales, 2015). The new curriculum holds high expectations for the understanding of maths and employers are going to expect more from students than just a basic understanding of maths (Gov Wales, 2015). Children are going to need to develop a wider range of skills to allow them to go into adult life and work smoothly, including being able to think critically and a good understanding of problem solving (Gov Wales, 2015). Maths can be very difficult and can sometimes make a child feel helpless if they cannot solve the answer to a problem however if taught the right way, reasoning can encourage creativity in children as well as boosting their confidence (Dabell, 2017). Teachers should encourage mistake making in the classroom and promote real passion for maths lessons, by convincing children to see that they are capable of solving problems in maths they are creating a sense of positivity towards the subject which will only make the children more eager to learn (Dabell, 2017). Not only this, with technology having already taken over 90% of the jobs that used to be run by humans we need to think of ways that the future generation of adults can outsmart the robots and ensure that they still have jobs available (Luk, 2018). Robots are not yet capable of problem solving, therefore if children are taught to problem solve to a high standard then this would be the first step to them being better than the robots and gives them a higher chance of finding employment. 

A study carried out in 2010 that was published in ‘Behaviour Research and Therapy’ found evidence that children who lack efficient problem-solving skills could be at higher risk of depression and suicidal thoughts (Morin, 2019). Researchers also found evidence that teaching a child problem-solving skills also improves their mental health (Morin, 2019).  Children who lack problem-solving skills may avoid a situation when they are faced with a problem rather than finding a solution, this could be a factor behind why many children fall behind in schools and struggle to maintain friendships (Morin, 2019). 

A common theme that is used in classrooms to aid children in learning how to carry out mathematical tasks is a solution called ‘RUCSAC’. RUCSAC stands for “Read, Underline, Calculate, Solve, Answer and Check” (Twinkl, no date) this method was presented to schools by the Welsh government to help when solving problems. A lot of people back up the RUCSAC method and think it is an amazing option for children who struggle with problem solving to use (Twinkl, no date) however there are some people that believe this method does not present a valid set of criteria for such a vital part of mathematics and would argue that it prevents children from learning to think mathematically as it is seen as ‘surface level thinking’ (Hart, 2017). It is argued that the success behind problem solving comes not from applying a skill but rather from using our memory and we are more likely to solve the underlying structures of a problem that is presented to us by using our memory to recall previously solved problems (Hart, 2017). 

Some pupils may feel a sense of frustration and disengagement when learning maths as they can feel as though they are learning something that is irrelevant for later in life. A good way to prevent this in the classroom is to relate problem solving questions to real life and real life contexts. For example if the children in a classroom were really interested in football then a teacher could get the children to work out the timing between each goal, this helps to keep them engaged and a lot of the time they will forget that they are actually doing maths because it is something they are interested in. 

References

Dabell, J (2017) Building Children’s Confidence in Maths – Top 10 Teaching Strategies. Available at: https://www.busythings.co.uk/blog/building-childrens-confidence-in-maths-teaching-strategies/(accessed: 15^thApril, 2019). 

Evans, S (2017) Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving in Primary Maths. Available at: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/blog/fluency-reasoning-and-problem-solving-primary-maths(accessed: 15th April, 2019). 

Gov Wales (2015) ‘Successful Futures: Looking at the Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales’ A summary of Professor Graham Donaldson’s report. Available at: https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-03/succesful-futures-a-summary-of-professor-graham-donaldsons-report.pdf  (accessed: 15^thApril, 2019). 

Hart, N (2017) ‘Acronyms like RUCSAC prevent children from thinking mathematically – we need a different approach’. Available at: https://www.tes.com/news/acronyms-rucsac-prevent-children-thinking-mathematically-we-need-different-approach(accessed: 15th April, 2019).

Luk, G (2018) Technology Has Already Taken Over 90% of the Jobs Humans used to do. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/01/18/technology-has-already-taken-over-90-of-the-jobs-humans-used-to-do/#76b4ffb31bdd(accessed: 15^thApril, 2019).

Morin, A (2019) How to Teach Kids Problem-Solving Skills. Available at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/teach-kids-problem-solving-skills-1095015(accessed: 15th April, 2019). 

NRICH (2014) Reasoning: Identifying Opportunities (Article).Available at: https://nrich.maths.org/10990(accessed: 15th April, 2019). 

Oxford Primary (2017) 5 Ways to Improve Mathematical Reasoning. Available at: https://educationblog.oup.com/primary/5-ways-to-improve-mathematical-reasoning(accessed: 15th April, 2019). 

Twinkl (no date) Rucsac.Available at: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/teaching-wiki/rucsac(accessed: 15th April, 2019).