VietNamNet Bridge – Teaching mathematics means teaching students to think and find answers themselves.

VietNamNet Bridge – Teaching mathematics means teaching students to think and find answers themselves. Teaching math does not mean giving students questions and then the answers. Math teachers should act as a guide, who inspire the students’ passion for mathematics, according to Ton Than, the first math teacher of Professor Ngo Bao Chau, who recently won the Field’s Medal.

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Teacher Ton Than (fourth from left) at Ngo Bao Chau’s wedding

Associate Professor, People’s Teacher Dr. Ton Than, now senior expert of the Vietnam Education Science Institute, with his progressive teaching method, helped bring Professor Ngo Bao Chau to mathematics.

When entering the math majors class at Trung Vuong School, Chau encountered many difficulties. Since Chau entered later than his friends, he had many gaps in his knowledge. Than decided to help Chau by giving books for him to read. The first book was on geometry theorems, which Than regarded as a good text for teachers and students. Chau was only 12 years old, and he could not read the 200-page book overnight. The teacher told him to read a certain number of pages every week, then to summarise the contents. After reading, the student needed to tell the teacher about what he learned and raise questions.

At first, Chau could read only several pages of the book within a week. The student reported what he had read and raised questions. The teacher explained what Chau could not understand. Then he asked the student if there were other ways of solving math problems.

With great patience, the student finished reading the book after six months. The teacher gave the student more and asked him to speed up his reading.

“I taught Chau when he was in 7^th and 8^th grades. I did not force my students to solve hundreds of mathematics questions. I just showed them the way of thinking, so that they could find the answers themselves,” Than recalled.

“When students learned about ellipsoidal, I raised questions so that the students could discover themselves the characteristics of lozenge and square. As such, the ability to think independently could develop well,” he observed.

Professor Than does not hide his pride about his excellent student. He related that he encouraged students to write mathematics articles, which also aimed to help students develop math skills. He also encouraged students to collect good books and exchange experiences.

“Chau made high impression on me. When he was a 7^th grader, he wrote a 17 page report called “What do you know about combinations?” Chau showed his knowledge, used examples from daily life and even cited the names of classmates in mathematics questions he raised. Later the report was “made public” on the school’s wall newspaper.

“I believe that the discussions raised among students at that time were the first step that prepared Chau for his dissertation later.

When asked about the Chau’s characteristics, Than noted that Chau has all three of the most important factors to become a famous scientist. Chau has talent, a good learning environment and great effort.

In his speech, Chau noted that he and the students of his generation might lack many things, but they did not lack learning conditions. Teacher Thanh agrees with Chau. “At that time, Chau could learn in the best education environment in Vietnam. Trung Vuong School, and then mathematics majoring classes under the General University have always been prestigious schools,” he said.

Teacher Than also stressed the great efforts made by Professor Chau in his scientific research path. “Chau spent 15 years to pursue a problem. If he had not had firm stuff, he would not have succeeded,” Thanh noted.

When asked about the “teaching know-how”, Than repsonded: “Don’t force people to drink water, make them thirsty for water, this is my know-how. If you can provoke students’ passion for knowledge, students will find it interesting to study which will encourage them to find out the answers to question.”

Source: Saigon tiep thi