How to get students to enjoy maths has been one of those unsolvable problems which has tested secondary teachers school for generations.
But a chess programme developed by St Paul’s Collegiate maths head Gary Judkins has promised a solution and one which he is keen to see expanded to other schools.
Mr Judkins, who has worked at St Paul’s for 17 years, said he discovered early on that many student didn’t like maths.
‘‘Maths is such an important subject. But I did a survey and asked the students what they thought of maths and to rank the subject from 1 to 100 depending on how much they enjoyed it with 1 being the least popular score.
‘‘ Most of the responses were below 50. I had one student rank it at ‘‘minus infinity.’’ Mr Judkins, who is a junior councillor for the New Zealand Chess Federation, said playing chess help students in areas including thinking, understanding language, symbols and texts, relating to others, participation and self-management.
After convincing the school’s administration of the value of the technique the chess programme was introduced about three years ago.
Beginning with year nine, students’ mathematics study schedule includes a chess class.
‘‘Chess is incorporated into the maths classes because it is a valuable educational tool that can help develop their mathematical abilities – a skill students will need throughout their whole lives,’’ he said.
Learning the game has also allowed St Pauls students to compete in regional and national chess competitions including a Bay of Plenty open tournament in February, a shared gold-medal placing with Auckland Boys Grammar and a team of the year award in 2012.
‘‘Using chess to help students better understand maths has been an interesting initiative and I’m keen to share it with other schools. I’m trying to get other involved using iPads to play.
There is a kids’ chess academy which is free.’’ Any teachers interested in getting their schools involved in improving the popularity of maths by using chess should email Mr Judkins g.judkins@stpauls.school.nz..
- The Waikato School Pupils’ 2014 Chess Tournament will be held at St Paul’s Collegiate School, 12 noon to 5pm, Sunday April 13.
Registration by April 10.
Contact Mr Judkins.
