Matematik dan Al-Quran

Assalamualaikum.

Sebelum ni saya ada kongsikan tentang pecahan dan mengaitkannya dengan al-Quran dalam post Fractions in Daily Life . Kali ni saya akan berkongsi tentang beberapa topik matematik yang dapat dikaitkan dengan ayat-ayat al-Quran.

Nombor/bilangan

"(Ingatlah peristiwa) ketika Nabi Yusuf berkata kepada bapanya: "Wahai ayahku! Sesungguhnya aku mimpi melihat sebelas bintang dan matahari serta bulan; aku melihat mereka tunduk memberi hormat kepadaku"."(Yusuf: 4)

"(Sebahagian dari) mereka akan berkata: "Bilangan Ashaabul Kahfi itu tiga orang, yang keempatnya ialah anjing mereka "; dan setengahnya pula berkata:"Bilangan mereka lima orang, yang keenamnya ialah anjing mereka" - secara meraba-raba dalam gelap akan sesuatu yang tidak diketahui; dan setengahnya yang lain berkata: "Bilangan mereka tujuh orang, dan yang kedelapannya ialah anjing mereka..." (Al-Kahfi: 22) 

"Dan mereka telah tinggal tidur dalam gua mereka: Tiga ratus tahun dengan kiraan Ahli Kitab), dan sembilan lagi (dengan kiraan kamu)." (Al-Kahfi: 25)

Tambah

"Dalam hati mereka (golongan yang munafik itu) terdapat penyakit (syak dan hasad dengki), maka Allah tambahkan lagi penyakit itu kepada mereka; dan mereka pula akan beroleh azab seksa yang tidak terperi sakitnya, dengan sebab mereka berdusta (dan mendustakan kebenaran)." (Al-Baqarah: 10)

"Dan (kenangkanlah) ketika Kami berfirman: "Masuklah kamu ke bandar ini, kemudian makanlah dari benda-benda yang ada di dalamnya dengan sepuas-puasnya, apa sahaja yang kamu sukai. Dan masuklah kamu melalui pintunya dengan tunduk (merendah diri); dan (mintalah ampun dengan) berkata: ' Ya Allah ampunilah dosa kami '; supaya kami ampunkan kesalahan-kesalahan kamu, dan Kami akan tambah pula pahala orang-orang yang berbuat baik"." (Al-Baqarah: 58)

"Dan (ingatlah) ketika Tuhan kamu memberitahu: "Demi sesungguhnya! Jika kamu bersyukur nescaya Aku akan tambahi nikmatKu kepada kamu, dan demi sesungguhnya, jika kamu kufur ingkar sesungguhnya azabKu amatlah keras"." (Ibrahim: 7)

"Dan mereka telah tinggal tidur dalam gua mereka: Tiga ratus tahun dengan kiraan Ahli Kitab), dan sembilan lagi (dengan kiraan kamu)." (Kahfi: 25) 

Tolak

"Tolaklah kejahatan yang dilakukan kepadamu dengan cara yang sebaik-baiknya, Kami Maha Mengetahui apa yang mereka katakan itu." (Al-Mu'minun: 96)

"Dan tidaklah sama (kesannya dan hukumnya) perbuatan yang baik dan perbuatan yang jahat. Tolaklah (kejahatan yang ditujukan kepadamu) dengan cara yang lebih baik; apabila engkau berlaku demikian maka orang yang menaruh rasa permusuhan terhadapmu, dengan serta merta akan menjadi seolah-olah seorang sahabat karib." (Fussilat: 34)

Pecahan

Allah perintahkan kamu mengenai (pembahagian harta pusaka untuk) anak-anak kamu, iaitu bahagian seorang anak lelaki menyamai bahagian dua orang anak perempuan. Tetapi jika anak-anak perempuan itu lebih dari dua, maka bahagian mereka ialah dua pertiga dari harta yang ditinggalkan oleh si mati. Dan jika anak perempuan itu seorang sahaja, maka bahagiannya ialah satu perdua (separuh) harta itu. Dan bagi ibu bapa (si mati), tiap-tiap seorang dari keduanya: satu perenam dari harta yang ditinggalkan oleh si mati, jika si mati itu mempunyai anak. Tetapi jika si mati tidak mempunyai anak, sedang yang mewarisinya hanyalah kedua ibu bapanya, maka bahagian ibunya ialah satu pertiga. Kalau pula si mati itu mempunyai beberapa orang saudara (adik-beradik), maka bahagian ibunya ialah satu perenam. (Pembahagian itu) ialah sesudah diselesaikan wasiat yang telah diwasiatkan oleh si mati, dan sesudah dibayarkan hutangnya... Dan bagi kamu satu perdua dari harta yang ditinggalkan oleh isteri-isteri kamu jika mereka tidak mempunyai anak. Tetapi jika mereka mempunyai anak maka kamu beroleh satu perempat dari harta yang mereka tinggalkan, sesudah ditunaikan wasiat yang mereka wasiatkan dan sesudah dibayarkan hutangnya. Dan bagi mereka (isteri-isteri) pula satu perempat dari harta yang kamu tinggalkan, jika kamu tidak mempunyai anak. Tetapi kalau kamu mempunyai anak maka bahagian mereka (isteri-isteri kamu) ialah satu perlapan dari harta yang kamu tinggalkan, sesudah ditunaikan wasiat yang kamu wasiatkan, dan sesudah dibayarkan hutang kamu. Dan jika si mati yang diwarisi itu, lelaki atau perempuan, yang tidak meninggalkan anak atau bapa, dan ada meninggalkan seorang saudara lelaki (seibu) atau saudara perempuan (seibu) maka bagi tiap-tiap seorang dari keduanya ialah satu perenam. Kalau pula mereka (saudara-saudara yang seibu itu) lebih dari seorang, maka mereka bersekutu pada satu pertiga (dengan mendapat sama banyak lelaki dengan perempuan), sesudah ditunaikan wasiat yang diwasiatkan oleh si mati, dan sesudah dibayarkan hutangnya; wasiat-wasiat yang tersebut hendaknya tidak mendatangkan mudarat (kepada waris-waris)..." (An-Nisa': 11-12)

"Mereka (orang-orang Islam umatmu) meminta fatwa kepadamu (Wahai Muhammad mengenai masalah Kalaalah). Katakanlah: "Allah memberi fatwa kepada kamu di dalam perkara Kalaalah itu, iaitu jika seseorang mati yang tidak mempunyai anak dan ia mempunyai seorang saudara perempuan, maka bagi saudara perempuan itu satu perdua dari harta yang ditinggalkan oleh si mati; dan ia pula (saudara lelaki itu) mewarisi (semua harta) saudara perempuannya, jika saudara perempuannya tidak mempunyai anak. Kalau pula saudara perempuannya itu dua orang, maka keduanya mendapat dua pertiga dari harta yang di tinggalkan oleh si mati..." (An-Nisa':176)

"Sesungguhnya Tuhanmu (wahai Muhammad) mengetahui bahawasanya engkau bangun (sembahyang Tahajjud) selama kurang dari dua pertiga malam, dan selama satu perduanya, dan selama satu pertiganya; dan (demikian juga dilakukan oleh) segolongan dari orang-orang yang bersama-samamu (kerana hendak menepati perintah yang terdahulu); padahal Allah jualah yang menentukan dengan tepat kadar masa malam dan siang.." (Al-Muzammil: 20) 

Masa/ Waktu

"Dan (dengan apa keadaan pun maka) pada sebahagian dari waktu malam sujudlah kepada Tuhan (dengan mengerjakan sembahyang), dan (seboleh-bolehnya) bertasbihlah memujiNya (dengan mengerjakan sembahyang Tahajjud), pada sebahagian yang panjang dari waktu malam." (Al-Insan: 26)

"Dan (tiap-tiap) makhluk yang bernyawa tidak akan mati melainkan dengan izin Allah, iaitu ketetapan (ajal) yang tertentu masanya (yang telah ditetapkan oleh Allah)..." (Ali imran: 145)

"Sesungguhnya Tuhan kamu ialah Allah yang menciptakan langit dan bumi dalam enam masa lalu Ia bersemayam di atas Arasy; Ia melindungi malam dengan siang yang mengiringinya dengan deras (silih berganti) dan (Ia pula yang menciptakan) matahari dan bulan serta bintang-bintang, (semuanya) tunduk kepada perintahNya..." (Al-A'raf: 54) 

"(Masa untuk mengerjakan ibadat) Haji itu ialah beberapa bulan yang termaklum. Oleh yang demikian sesiapa yang telah mewajibkan dirinya (dengan niat mengerjakan) ibadat Haji itu, maka tidak boleh mencampuri isteri, dan tidak boleh membuat maksiat, dan tidak boleh bertengkar, dalam masa mengerjakan ibadat Haji..." (Al-Baqarah: 197)

"Dan isteri-isteri yang diceraikan itu hendaklah menunggu dengan menahan diri mereka (dari berkahwin) selama tiga kali suci (dari haid). Dan tidaklah halal bagi mereka menyembunyikan (tidak memberitahu tentang) anak yang dijadikan oleh Allah dalam kandungan rahim mereka, jika betul mereka beriman kepada Allah dan hari akhirat. Dan suami-suami mereka berhak mengambil kembali (rujuk akan) isteri-isteri itu dalam masa idah mereka jika suami-suami bertujuan hendak berdamai..." (Al-Baqarah: 228)

Luas

"Dan segeralah kamu kepada (mengerjakan amal-amal yang baik untuk mendapat) keampunan dari Tuhan kamu, dan (mendapat) Syurga yang bidangnya seluas segala langit dan bumi, yang disediakan bagi orang-orang yang bertaqwa." (Ali imran: 133)

Ukuran Panjang

"Dan juga pintu-pintu rumah mereka (dari perak juga), dan kerusi-kerusi panjang yang mereka berbaring di atasnya (dari perak juga)." (Az-Zukhruf: 34)

"Selain dari itu, masukkanlah dia dalam (lingkaran) rantai besi yang ukuran panjangnya tujuh puluh hasta, (dengan membelitkannya ke badannya)!" (Al-Haqqah: 32)

Jisim/ Berat

                                                                              

"Setelah berlaku demikian, maka (manusia akan diberikan tempatnya menurut amal masing-masing); adapun orang yang berat timbangan amal baiknya, Maka ia berada dalam kehidupan yang senang lenang. Sebaliknya orang yang ringan timbangan amal baiknya, Maka tempat kembalinya ialah 'Haawiyah'." (Al-Qari'ah: 6-9)

"Maka sesiapa berbuat kebajikan seberat zarah, nescaya akan dilihatnya (dalam surat amalnya)! Dan sesiapa berbuat kejahatan seberat zarah, nescaya akan dilihatnya (dalam surat amalnya)!" (Al-Zalzalah: 7-8)

"Dan timbangan amal pada hari itu adalah benar; maka sesiapa yang berat timbangan amalnya (yang baik), maka mereka itulah orang-orang yang berjaya." (Al-A'raf: 8)

Kuantiti; banyak/sedikit

"Orang-orang lelaki ada bahagian pusaka dari peninggalan ibu bapa dan kerabat, dan orang-orang perempuan pula ada bahagian pusaka dari peninggalan ibu bapa dan kerabat, sama ada sedikit atau banyak dari harta yang ditinggalkan itu; iaitu bahagian yang telah diwajibkan (dan ditentukan oleh Allah)." (An-Nisa': 7)

"Dan berapa banyak Kami binasakan negeri-negeri yang penduduknya telah berlaku sombong dan tidak bersyukur dalam kehidupannya (yang serba mewah dan senang lenang). Maka itulah dia tempat-tempat tinggal mereka terbiar tidak didiami orang sesudah mereka (dibinasakan), kecuali sedikit sahaja dan sesungguhnya Kamilah yang mewarisi mereka." (Al-Qasas: 58)

"Oleh itu bolehlah mereka ketawa sedikit (di dunia ini) dan mereka akan menangis banyak (di akhirat kelak), sebagai balasan bagi apa yang mereka telah usahakan." (At-Taubah: 82)

Saiz; besar/kecil

"Dan tidak pula mereka membelanjakan sesuatu perbelanjaan yang kecil, atau yang besar; dan tidak mereka melintas sesuatu lembah, melainkan ditulis pahala bagi mereka, supaya Allah membalas dengan balasan yang lebih baik dari apa yang mereka telah kerjakan." (At-Taubah: 121)

"Jika kamu menjauhkan dosa-dosa besar yang dilarang kamu melakukannya, Kami akan ampunkan kesalahan-kesalahan (dosa kecil) kamu, dan kami akan masukkan kamu ke tempat yang mulia (syurga)." (An-Nisa': 31)

"...Dan tidak akan hilang lenyap dari pengetahuan Tuhanmu sesuatu dari sehalus-halus atau seringan-ringan yang ada di bumi atau di langit, dan tidak ada yang lebih kecil dari itu dan tidak ada yang lebih besar, melainkan semuanya tertulis di dalam Kitab yang terang nyata." (Yunus: 61)

Aras: tinggi/rendah

"Engkau tidak akan melihat pada tapaknya itu tempat yang rendah atau yang tinggi." (Taha: 107)

"Kehidupan dunia (dan kemewahannya) diperhiaskan (dan dijadikan amat indah) pada (pandangan) orang-orang kafir, sehingga mereka (berlagak sombong dan) memandang rendah kepada orang-orang yang beriman. Padahal orang-orang yang bertaqwa (dengan imannya) lebih tinggi (martabatnya) daripada mereka (yang kafir itu) pada hari kiamat kelak. Dan (ingatlah), Allah memberi rezeki kepada sesiapa yang dikehendakiNya dengan tidak terkira (menurut undang-undang peraturanNya)." (Al-Baqarah: 212) 

Wang

Dan demikianlah pula Kami bangkitkan mereka (dari tidurnya), supaya mereka bertanya-tanyaan sesama sendiri. Salah seorang di antaranya bertanya: "Berapa lama kamu tidur?" (sebahagian dari) mereka menjawab: "Kita telah tidur selama sehari atau sebahagian dari sehari". (Sebahagian lagi dari) mereka berkata: "Tuhan kamu lebih menengetahui tentang lamanya kamu tidur; sekarang utuslah salah seorang dari kamu, membawa wang perak kamu ini ke bandar; kemudian biarlah dia mencari dan memilih mana-mana jenis makanan yang lebih baik lagi halal (yang dijual di situ)..." (Al-Kahfi: 19)

Bentuk

"... Dan kenanglah ketika Allah menjadikan kamu khalifah-khalifah sesudah kaum Nabi Nuh, dan Allah telah menambahkan kamu kelebihan (dan kekuatan) pada bentuk kejadian tubuh kamu. Maka kenanglah akan nikmat-nikmat Allah supaya kamu berjaya. (Al-A'raf: 69)

"Wahai orang-orang yang telah diberikan Kitab, berimanlah kamu dengan apa yang telah Kami turunkan (Al-Quran), yang mengesahkan Kitab-Kitab yang ada pada kamu, sebelum Kami menyeksa dengan menghapuskan bentuk muka kamu (sehingga berubah menjadi rata - tidak bermulut, berhidung dan bermata), lalu Kami menjadikannya sama seperti rupa sebelah belakangnya, atau Kami melaknatkan mereka sebagaimana Kami telah melaknatkan orang-orang (dari kaum mereka - Yahudi) yang melanggar larangan bekerja pada hari Sabtu. Dan (ingatlah) perintah Allah itu tetap berlaku." (An-Nisa': 47) 

P/s: Sebenarnya ada banyak lagi ayat-ayat al-Quran lain berkaitan dengan matematik yang tidak dimasukkan di sini. Ini hanya sebahagian kecil sahaja. Moga bermanfaat untuk semua! ☺

Teaching Children about Classification

Classification is one of the important skills in Early Mathematics. Classification means to sort or group the objects by some common characteristics. For example:

• to classify the animals in groups (number of legs, giving birth/ laying eggs, etc.).
• to classify the fruits according to colours.
• to classify the clothes according to sizes (big, medium, small).

This is one of teaching materials made by my students as an assignment. From the teaching material, students will learn to recognize colours and shapes as well as to classify the objects accordingly.

                                                     Classification according to shapes.

Classification according to colours.

In the early age, children learn about classification to differentiate between big numbers and small numbers. At their level, they need to recognize about big and small numbers for doing subtraction process. They only can subtract a small number from a big number as young children still do not learn about negative number. 

It is crucial for children to learn about classification as they need it while learning mathematical concepts in schools. For example, they will learn about positive and negative numbers, natural numbers, rational numbers and so on while doing mathematical operations.

Philosophy for Children (P4C)

P4C is a methodology that develops, enhances and enriches thinking and questioning skills. It is a discipline concerns with logical, critical and reflective thinking and the development of reasoning. It emphasis on process rather than the end result. P4C encourages children to think and share their opinions with others.

P4C encourages collaboration by thinking, discussing, and cooperative working to build communication and conversional skills. Besides, it enables caring as P4C is regards as an excellent thinking tool through healthy debate, social responsibility and moral citizenship. Moreover, it builds children’s confidence, self-awareness, motivation and emotional strength through reasoned and good judgement in everyday life.

There is a formal structure for P4C. Children have to sit in a semi-circle, horseshoe or circle. Then, the facilitator will decide on rules. There will be 2 minutes warm-up session to make the children focus. After that, stimulus will be presented. The children will be given thinking time, depending on their age. The more time given, the more idea will be generated. Finally is the discussion session. For this session, the children will talk and express their ideas or opinion about the topic given. Usually, the optimum time for each session is about ¾ of an hour to an hour.  

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As a conclusion, P4C is good and beneficial for children nowadays as it promotes children to think in order to make even a simple decision in their life. If all children are trained with P4C from their early age, social problems and social illnesses which happen among teenagers might be lesser as they have been practiced to think deeply before making any decision in their life.

The Role of Critical Thinking in Islam

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Critical thinking has been developed throughout the past 2500 years. Critical thinking was defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987 as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action”. Critical thinking is a part of educational process either in schools or universities. Critical thinking is a skill that has to be developed in order to make it becomes a habit.

                 According to the author Dr. Yedullah Kazmi, “to be critical is to try to understand the world. To understand is to find reasons why things are the way they are”. We have to go through the process of codification in order to find the reasons. Critical thinking involves the process of coding and decoding of meaning. Coding here means an attempt to create new meanings in all different ways whereas decoding means to interpret or understand the world. Usually, it is impossible to be critical without the utopian imagination. A critique aims to give new and different meaning to life. A critique is practical and a necessary moment to understand the world which is to engage with the world.

As the Qur’an is guidance for Muslims, we are encouraged to understand the Qur’an through intellectual exercise namely critical thinking. Critical thinking needs freedom. Muslims have been given freedom by Allah to be critical and creative as His vicegerents on the earth.  However, if Muslims refuse to think for fear of making mistakes meaning that to ignore Allah who is forgiving and kind. To understand the signs of Allah, we have to be critical and creative. The process of understanding the meaning of a sign is a hermeneutical activity where the meaning of the sign is understood in the context of the meaning of the whole with reference to the meaning of a particular sign. The process is continuing in the movement from particular to the general and back and exploring new meanings as well as deconstructing the old settled meaning. The question is about how to understand the truth of which the Qur’an speaks. With the help of a structure of meaning which we possess by virtue of being-in-the-world, we try to make sense of the world around us. The structure of meaning will change when something new is understood in order to accommodate and assimilate it. Whilst, the degree of the structure of meaning to change depends on how different is that which is added.

            A creative mind is a critical mind. Human, whom has been given the mind, has to be creative to take the challenge in order to understand the Qur’an as well as to play his role as a vicegerent of Allah. The challenge of the Qur’an is the general condition for all people at all time and the understanding of the Qur’an is to develop. In order to understand the Qur’an, we have to align our thinking with the truth that the Qur’an speaks of, which in turn requires us making changes in our lived reality. Unfortunately, most of us are fear of accepting the challenge which prevents us from reading the Qur’an in order to understand it.

            The reading of the Qur’an is not only an act of personal piety for one’s relationship with Allah but to be an exercise engaged in to created tools of social critism in order to realize social justice on this earth. To be a vicegerent of Allah in this world means being concerned with the well being of other humans. The personal and social constitute one comprehensive moral and spiritual universe in Islam because both revolve around the axis of tawhid. Thus, social critique and pious life is dependent to each other. Meaning that, social critique is necessary for a pious life and pious life is necessary for engaging in social critique. Tawhid is the axis around which both social and personal existence revolves. On the other hand, taqwa is the process by which tawhid is first internalized and then lived in both spheres.

            A Muslim needs to look critically both at his/her society and other societies of the world to expose  at the individual and social level any deviation from tawhid and falling away from taqwa in Islam, knowledge is a path that leads to Allah. It highlights two things about Islam. Firstly that knowledge in Islam is important for a Muslim’s spiritual growth and development. Secondly, critical thinking is essential for a Muslim to grow intellectually and spiritually because knowledge is acquired through the active process of going beyond what one already knows.

In the Western critical thought, the success of a critique is judged purely on pragmatic and utilitarian grounds. For them, critique is entirely a this-worldy-affair, to bring changes in the world for the purpose of this world. However in Islam, to engage in critical thought is a moral commitment and to be judged on its moral worth independent of its success or failure in this world.  We are required to act morally but the success or failure of our actions is entirely in Allah’s hand. It is the principle of tawhid which is very important in Muslims’ life. Trying to preserve and maintain the principle of tawhid is an unending historical process. Therefore, it is vital to preserve the principle of tawhid in history as to avoid the utopian flavor in Muslim thought.

               As a conclusion, Muslims should be trained to think critically based on tawhid and take the challenge to understand the Qur’an in order to succeed in this world and the hereafter.

3 Types of Goals in Education

Thursday, 6^th October 2011.

During the class, I had learnt how important philosophy of education is in achieving the goals of education. Philosophy will determine the curriculum of education and how to implement the curriculum into practical ways in order to achieve goals as well as the philosophy of education. There are three types of goals in education: instructional goal, management goal and support goal. Instructional goal means teaching and learning goal which involves teacher and students. Instructional goal is the most crucial goal in education as without it, the educational goal will never be reached. Whereas, management goal will determine how the administrator manages the goal according to his own methods. Last but not least is the support goal. The support goal will determine the service delivery such as teaching resources, teaching facilities and so forth. Goal is important for students learning because from the goal, the level of achievement can be measured specifically. Thus, the evaluation of learning is observable.

Teaching: an Art or a Science

Introduction

Some educators perceive teaching as an art which practiced by individuals who are born with intuitive awareness, whereas others view teaching as a science that practiced by in a scientific manner.  Whilst, others in the opinion that teaching as both an art and a science. Is teaching an art, a science or a combination of both elements?  In the light of this issue, the argument is about whether teaching is an activity involving general laws or principles as well as scientific terms to facilitate planning; or whether it is an individualistic, intuitive and spontaneous process to produce creative work as it involves so many factors which are impossible to specify general lines of direction; or whether it involves both art and science.

Teaching as a Science

J. S. Mill stated that we have to ‘hand [our ends] over to science’ as the best methods of achieving our aims that is value-oriented. If we can specify our aims more clearly, it will be better. Such thinking promotes the rational planning of a curriculum by objectives that is more precise and can be measured. The most prominent example of this approach is behavioral approach, which defies education as the ‘changing of behavior’. 

Sockett mentions that the process of education can be tackled by science, by eliminating the value aspect from definition. He explains that, by making objectives measurable, the progress of what has been achieved and what more needs to be done can exactly been observed. In my personal view, Sockett has focused more on educational aims when he thought about measurable objectives, but has neglected the mean or process on how to achieve the aim. Undeniably, having aims is important but the means to achieve aims should be taken into consideration as well. As teaching deals with human being, teachers should be able to convey knowledge in a suitable manner in promoting learning to students. For this purpose, the art of teaching is very crucial as it is the process to achieve the educational goal as well as to satisfy human need.

Teaching as an Art

N. L. Gage believes that teaching is more than a science as it involves “artistic judgment about the best ways to teach.” He further explains, when teaching leaves the laboratory or textbook and faces the students for real, “the opportunity for artistry expands enormously.” Science cannot prescribe successfully at all situations as teachers respond and interact with judgment, insight, or sensitivity to promote learning to the students.

The hunches, judgments, and insights of the teacher when he or she responds spontaneously to events in the classroom, as Philip Jackson contends, are as vital as, or possibly even more vital than the science of teaching. The theory about teaching will be useless if a teacher does not know how to respond to the real teaching field because it is the everyday routines and relationship between teacher and students which determine the processes and outcomes of teaching.

According to Elliot Eisner, teaching is based primarily on feelings and artistry. Teachers should be able to express their emotions, feelings, or real personality while teaching so as to affirm and value the students. Nevertheless, I do not agree that teaching is solely based on feelings and arts. If it is so, then it will be difficult to measure how much the students have achieved in learning and whether or not the aims of education have been fulfilled. With regard to that, it is important to have observable and measurable aims in teaching so that the progression of teaching and learning can be examined and supervised.

Personal View – Teaching as an Art and a Science

            In my opinion teaching involves both – art and science. There are three basic important principles in education which are aim (goal and objective), mean (process or method) and end (evaluation and assessment). Aim of education involves the science of teaching where observable and measurable goals and objectives are developed. The goals and objectives will be stated specifically and clearly based on the students’ ability. Mean of education may involve both – the art and science of teaching.

The process or method of teaching is planned by teachers accordingly – this is where teaching is regarded as a science, and teacher will be using different approach for different type of classes or different students. At this stage, teachers will use their own experience and creativity to deliver knowledge and to make the students understand by using their personalized knowledge – this is where teaching is regarded as an art. Likewise, end of education may involve both elements – science and art. At this stage, teacher will identify a suitable assessment to evaluate the students’ understanding which can measure the students’ different ability. Teaching will be evaluated based on students’ achievement on the assessment.

            Science and art cannot be separated in teaching. Both complement each other. A teacher can be regarded as a scientist or an artist. When a teacher being a scientist, his or her laboratory is school, the instruments or apparatus are lesson plan as well as school facilities while the chemical is the students. When doing the research in the laboratory, the scientist will use judgment, intuition and insight in handling the unpredictable-contingencies (Gage, 1978). It same goes with the teacher. He or she will act as a scientist in a classroom, using trial and error method in order to find the most appropriate way to teach the students so as the students will understand better.

Learning activities is strategies in achieving goals. A teacher is regarded as an artist when he or she is able to use creativity and senses in order to find the best strategies so that the goals can be achieved. Thus, teachers should be creative to promote learning by encouraging the students through senses and make the lesson alive as the students can feel what they learn. Each teacher is unique as each has his or her own personalized experience. Teacher’s character or personality is expressed during the teaching process. At the same time, even though each teacher employing different method of teaching, they have to ensure that the process of teaching is able to reach their goals in teaching. This is where the science and the art of teaching are applied in education.

Based on my previous experience in teaching, I have tried several methods in teaching different level of students with different classes. Each class has its own need and it is important for teachers to know their students well so that the students can understand better in the class. At the same time, as a teacher I have to be prepared for anything to happen if the method of teaching used is not suitable. I need to always have a ‘back-up’ plan in a classroom. At the end of the class, I will evaluate my teaching based on students’ responses and from the exercises given in the class. One important thing is, teachers should be their own selves in communicating with and teaching their students.

Furthermore, teacher should be sensitive in choosing the best way to teach different level of students. When I was a teacher of lower secondary form, I had to be creative in choosing the method in teaching so that the students will be interested in learning as well as to make students feel of what they were doing. Teaching secondary school students can be balanced between science and art. For instance, when I introduce a new topic – decimal, in a Form One class, I did not give the students exercises provided in the textbook. Instead, I prepared my own exercise – a list of dishes with their own price each, with some delicious photos and I pasted the menu in front of the class. I have my own goal for the students to achieve at the end of the lesson, but I used the unusual method in teaching that topic.

To make the exercise suitable for the topic, I made the price of food become decimal number also – with two decimal points. Then, I gave each student a coupon of RM50 so that they should use the coupon to buy the food that they want and to finish up the coupon. They had to calculate their own food that they chose, check whether the food was enough to finish up the coupon and finally they had to calculate how much balance were left after buying the foods. Since the students were never used to play such game in a mathematics class, they were very excited and the class became like a restaurant – everybody was busy ordering and calculating money that they spend for the food. I even could see their happy face while playing the game and at the same time learning to calculate decimal numbers.

On the other hand, I have encountered different experience while teaching kindergarten children. I got an opportunity to teach 4 years old children for almost 4 months. Teaching small kids needs more creativity from a teacher. It is because small kids are full of emotion and they need more attention from the teacher. I have to find ways in order to grab their attention in class. I found it was more difficult to teach small kids rather than teaching secondary school students.

The small kids will be more interested in learning if the teacher is able to control their emotion as well as to make them happy. In most lessons, I prefer to use a song, if any to attract the kids’ attention. Besides, I learnt that teaching small kids needs more patience and art so as to maintain the kids in the class. I also learn novel things on how to communicate with the small kids and dealing with certain problems that occur in the class. In my opinion, teaching small kids needs more art than science as a teacher has to grab their attention first before beginning any lesson.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it is crucial for a teacher to teach students by heart as it will bring teacher closer to the students. Teachers have to know themselves and the subjects that they will be going to teach before knowing the students. Only after knowing themselves the teachers will be able to know the students well. Teaching is a science as well as an art, having clear objectives or goals and striving hard to think of different and interesting ways of teaching. An article by Parker J. Palmer mentions that a teacher needs to have personalized knowledge, identity and integrity (amanah) in his life. From these three elements then the teacher will be able to teach from heart.

P/s: This is the answer for my 'take-home test'~