What is a Mathematics Laboratory ?
Mathematics Laboratory is a place where students can learn and explore mathematical concepts and verify mathematical facts and theorems through a variety of activities using different materials. These activities may be carried out by the teacher or the students to explore, to learn, to stimulate interest and develop favourable attitude towards mathematics.
Need and purpose of Mathematics Laboratory:-
Some of the ways in which a Mathematics Laboratory can contribute to the learning of the subject are:
• It provides an opportunity to students to understand and internalize the basic mathematical concepts through concrete objects and situations.
• It enables the students to verify or discover several geometrical properties and facts using models or by paper cutting and folding techniques. • It helps the students to build interest and confidence in learning the subject.
• The laboratory provides opportunity to exhibit the relatedness of mathematical concepts with everyday life.
• It provides greater scope for individual participation in the process of learning and becoming autonomous learners.
• It provides scope for greater involvement of both the mind and the hand which facilates cognition.
• The laboratory allows and encourages the students to think, discuss with each other and the teacher and assimilate the concepts in a more effective manner.
• It enables the teacher to demonstrate, explain and reinforce abstract mathematical ideas by using concrete objects, models, charts, graphs, pictures, posters, etc.