Introduction
Automaticity skills in mathematical facts have been of substantial interest to particular educators for many years. Automaticity is the facility to easily and fluently complete a certain task without thinking so much about it. Whenever the human brain identifies a known task for instance computing a mathematical fact, it mechanically processes the info and applies what it has formerly learned. This lessens the demand on memory and facilitates higher-order thinking. Automaticity of fundamental mathematical facts is vital for student’s success in math. In educator’s zeal to assist learners be automatic in mathematics they often overlook the groundwork that is essential and needed for automaticity instead of memorization. Automaticity can be referred as the description of how fine or well an individual can remember something. Memorization is a method used when learning something; these two terms shouldn’t be confused.
Literature Review
The question of this study came up because of observations made concerning students. Students were seen to be struggling when handling basic mathematical facts. The lack of ability to compute basic mathematical facts speedily and correctly was intrusive during math lessons. Some students didn’t have the ability to compute these math facts as quickly as expected. They often got lost during the processes of multiplication and division. They always made mistakes whenever they were computing basic facts of mathematics. Students should reach an automaticity level with their fundamental mathematical facts (Jere, 2010).
Automaticity skills can be very helpful to students learning mathematics if they are followed properly. The skills have been seen to help students realize their success in mathematics. Both educators and students can feel very aggravated due to lack of awareness/understanding and info regarding basic facts of mathematics. In such cases automaticity skills are extremely helpful attributes. Students need to have the facility to answer or solve any mathematical fact instantaneously without thinking so hard (Bender, 2009). Without automaticity skills of fundamental facts, the progress of a student can be slowed down when handling higher-level thinking mathematical issues like fractions, multiplying and division.
To acquire these automaticity skills, students should have the facility to learn and maintain higher thinking level. For example practicing multiplying facts can assist a student reach the automaticity level by having that ability to answer any questions of multiplication promptly without stopping to think about the answer. Educators must be aware of the significance of automaticity skills when it comes to realizing the success of students in mathematics; automaticity skills and mathematics success are very connected.
Without automaticity skills, students find it hand dealing with multiplication, fractions and also division (Laney, 2009). Reaching this automaticity level requires a student to have the ability to answer mathematical facts promptly without making errors. Educators should implement this program in their classroom; this program can be very important to a student who wants to get good grades in math. Automaticity is when a student can go through his/her material promptly without making mistakes and with no much cognizant attention.
To acquire this learners are expected to be very assiduous and strong-minded; this task is not very easy; it requires lots of willpower and diligence. Achieving automaticity skills is significant to develop; the student should recite mathematical facts at a fast and competent rate. When a student reaches automaticity level they are able to solve more difficult math problems and this gets them closer to their success in mathematics. Students are more supple and capable of reasoning when they are equipped with basic mathematical facts, for instance algebra; it manipulates fundamental facts.
Without having the automaticity skills of fundamental math fact, learning algebra can be very frustrating. With the boost of mathematics in the society today, higher order of thinking can be a valuable and a helpful aspect. For a student to be automatic with these mathematical facts they need to solve problems in less than a sec. These requirements are attainable and reasonable; learners work according to their suitable level and their capabilities. To get to the automaticity level with mathematical facts, the beginning ought to be minimal (Vali, 2008).
These facts should be recited and mastered while others are being introduced. In the education sector, math standards have taken-on a fresh phenomenon. All children were given similar rights when NCLB was passed and standards are a device necessary in classrooms. The National Council of Teaching Math came up with these mathematics standards that can be very helpful in teaching math (Bender, 2009). The easiness in working out and understanding mathematical facts has been observed in these standards.
When a student has computational fluency they are seen to have the ability of using well-organized methods to compute. This is a very important tool in teaching mathematics and also in acquisition of automaticity skills. Students get to this level of automaticity through though developmental procedures; the educator is required to take his/her learners through these stages so that they can achieve their success in mathematics. Learning mathematics starts with the basic facts to other more intricate facts.
Through these stages one can understand how a student gets to this automaticity level. These stages are procedural comprehension of mathematical facts and developing methods to recall the math facts by linking them to the already recognized facts and also the declarative understanding of these facts. The declarative understanding is considered to be the automaticity level. A skill of automaticity is the processing rate; to comprehend complex mathematical facts, a student need to be acquitted with the basic facts.
The fundamental facts will be the automatic recall when handling the more multifarious problems. Classification is for example a higher thinking level; this skill is classified under the analysis of competence (Balka, 2011). All students who want to be successful in learning mathematics have to be automatic when it comes to their mathematical facts. Educators need to encourage their students into perfecting their automaticity skills.
This practice should be executed on daily-basis for them to be good at it. Without regular practice; learners may forget their answers or even lose their automaticity skills; this can never be good for their mathematics success. With appropriate practices, learners will have the ability to remember facts. Even though a student has reached their automaticity level; they shouldn’t stop with their practicing. By doing this the learner can lose his/her automaticity to either multiply or divide.
This constant practice is called over-learning and it’s an important developmental procedure; the practice can at times be overwhelming for a learner but success does not come without hard work. Students should be focused so that they can not lose their determination in achieving their success (Jere, 2010). Teachers should not use drill practice when they are teaching mathematical facts; many teachers have a ten-day of moving more toward a syllabus that is enthusiastic in solving problem and dynamic learning.
In this, mathematical facts still remain to be very important. If students do not have automaticity in handling their math problems then higher level of thinking can turn out to be extremely intricate. Programs which are designated to assist students in getting to their automaticity level ought to have specific components. These components are particular standards of performance for initiating new mathematical facts. The components are seen to help learners become successful in attaining their automaticity skills and fluent with their mathematical facts.
Mastering these mathematical facts was designated to assist learners reach their automaticity level when it comes to solving problems in math (Vali, 2008). If students are not given a concrete foundation in basic mathematical facts like subtraction and addition, solving multiplication and division questions can be disastrous. Educators ought to take their students step-by-step- until they reaches their automaticity level where they can solve more intricate question effortlessly thus realizing their success in mathematics.
Students who want to be achievers in mathematics need automaticity skills; they skills should be practiced on a daily basis so that the student can not forget them. Whenever a student has a goal he/she desires to achieve, it is always easier for the educator to help that student in achieving the goal. The educators or the teacher gets to understand the strength and the weak points of his/her student (Terry, 2009). This is also easier for the teacher because he/she gets to establish his every-day and weekly routines.
The teacher’s routine also helps the student to know what is required of them during lessons. During lessons educators should record the progress and the automaticity of the learner to show their achievements. These achievements are the ones which motivates both the learner and the teacher to focus more and to work harder. Whenever the students go wrong when giving their answers the teacher should help them through the correct thought process to help them do better the next time they are practicing their skills.
The instructor should also let the students repeat the levels where they went wrong the next time they used that program. Students who never made mistakes should be given a chance to attempt the next levels using the same processes. These practices keep the student motivated to be better in achieving their automaticity skills thus getting them closer to realizing their success in math. The teacher should test if his/her students are increasing their speed-rate and making lesser errors or not.
Teachers should encourage his/her students so that they can feel motivated to give their very best. Mastering mathematical facts is a program that can be very beneficial to students and their progress in acquiring automaticity skills that greatly help them in solving math problems. There is a close relationship between automaticity skills and student’s success in math; therefore educators should not overlook this fact (Scott, 2010). A student who has acquired automaticity skills is a student who has the facility to remember fundamental mathematical facts promptly and also competently.
The programs implemented by educators to equip students with automaticity skills are offered to the whole class however these programs are more about individual evaluation. Every time learners make use of this program they compete more against their own selves. They are simply striving to better their math results. For a student to be successful in mathematics lots of practices are needed, these practices help the student to always recall the formulas of solving problems. Students should not lose their automaticity skills they have to be more focused and determined for them to succeed in achieving their objectives in math (Bellert, 2007).
Automaticity skills enable a student to be more competent when handling mathematical problems; these skills make the student effectual, knowledgeable and experienced when solving mathematical queries. These skills are acquired through routine practices, willpower and hard work. Automaticity skills are very beneficial in achieving goals in math. When dealing with any kind of a problem one is supposed to be skillful and so students should also be skillful when solving math problems, these skills makes the entire problem so easy to deal with.
Conclusion
There is a relationship between automaticity skills and students’ success in mathematics. The skills help students to increase their speed when solving problems and they become more accurate. Students do well in math if their automaticity skills are refined; they are accurate and fast in their work. Programs to improve automaticity skills should be implemented in classrooms because these skills are very important in their success in mathematics. Students who have difficulty in solving mathematical problems should work hard to sharpen their skills; this shows devotion and focus. With enough practices students become quicker with their mathematical facts and they also become accurate. This pace and accurateness helps the students be more competent in mathematics. Programs that help in improving students’ automaticity skills should be encouraged in classrooms they make a path-way to achieving success in mathematics.
References
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