7. A Powerful Force
‘Imagery is a powerful force for perception
and understanding. Being able to “see”
something mentally is a common metaphor
for understanding it. An image may be of
some geometrical shape, or of a graph or
diagram, or it may be some set of symbols
or some procedure.’
Open University
8. Aims
To reflect on current practice in providing opportunities
for developing visualisation
To engage in a number of activities that involve
visualisation and reflect on the key skills and attitudes
involved
To explore ways that visualisation can be incorporated
into classroom practice
To consider resources that might be useful
29. I wonderhow many squares there would
be ona chess board that was 16 x16?
30. Points to consider
1. The ability to visualise representations, pictures or images and
then adapt/change them is an important tool in learning
mathematics.
2. Children need extensive practical experiences in all aspects of
mathematics.
3. Visualisation is not about blue-sky thinking.
4. Visualisation activities in YR might look quite different to
visualisation activities in Y6.
31. Key Messages
Visualising is a critically important skill in
developing mathematical understanding.
Visualising does not tend to appear in published
schemes.
As teachers we need to ensure that we are very
aware of all the processes of mathematics and so
we must always attempt to know what our
students are visualising.
32. Resources
•NNS Shape and Space booklet
•nrich website
•Beam – ‘Eyes closed’
•Anita Straker – ‘Talking Points in Mathematics’
•Maths Trails - Visualisation
•Talk for maths – mind’s eye
•Open University – Learning Space – ‘Using Visualisation in
Mathematics Teaching’