The Singapore Method

For several decades now, Singaporean students have been at the top (or at least in the top 3!) of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) ranking , a test that tracks the science and mathematics performance of students from many countries and at different educational levels.
The result of chance? Well no!

Since the early 1980s, 15 years after Singapore gained its independence, the government decided to put mathematics and science at the heart of the school curriculum and then worked on a specific and very precise learning method: the so-called Singapore method, which brings together the most effective didactic and pedagogical principles. To be implemented, it requires rigorous training of teachers.

The principle of this method of learning mathematics is to insist on the multiple representation of each concept addressed , additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions are studied in depth until the students understand them completely, and always following these 3 steps:

Modeling:
Connecting a mathematical problem to a concrete everyday situation. This is a step where students manipulate the physical objects of the mathematical problem, this step is very concrete. For example, additions will be approached with counters.


The pictorial representation:
The manipulated objects are then replaced by images representing them: a pile of 10 tokens represents the number 10.


The abstract representation:
Once the first two types of representation have been mastered, students only work with numbers and symbols.

Throughout this method, students are encouraged to draw the statements and represent them visually, in particular using bar graphs , which will allow them to determine the quantities given in the statement, the unknown quantities and the operations to be carried out to solve the problem.

Example :

It is thanks to this method of progressive abstraction that students from Singapore and countries using this method systematically find themselves at the top of the TIMSS ranking, while France struggles and stagnates with average results.

So, convinced? ;)