The aim of this paper is to ascertain the type of relation elementary school students have toward mathematics classes. Through employing technical and scientific methods, a basis was constructed which can provide answers to numerous questions related to math classes, relation of students towards the subject matter, as well as to results being achieved in the subject mathematics during elementary education. The fact is that elementary school students exhibit difficulties in accepting the subject and achieve lower results in mathematics in comparison to other school subjects. Likewise, it is a fact that students upon gradating elementary school opt for high schools which have less mathematics in their curricula, and this state of affair continues when choosing higher education area. In the first theoretical part, certain fundamental concepts regarding this research topic have been clarified. The second part relates to the methodology of research of the above-mentioned problem. In the third part an analysis and interpretation of the results of conducted research has been provided.
The role and significance of Mathematics in human life is very important and holds a special place in development of contemporary society. Creativity in Mathematics teaching largely depends on Mathematics teacher. Teacher is the one who creates emotional environment in the classroom and it is expected from him/her to create with the students a relationship of trust and mutual responsibility for the success of conducting the teaching process. Students need to be interested and activated to individually solve tasks and find solutions to set Mathematical problems, to solve tasks in different ways using various methods, so that everybody can find a way of coming to a solution. This is easy to say. In any case, creativity as a competence holds a significant place in the set of key life competencies. Only teachers can answer questions whether Mathematics classes are creative, interesting, or acceptable for students. This paper will contain certain theoretical viewpoints about creativity in general, creative Mathematics teaching, relation towards creativity at school and outside. Research has shown that examinees (teachers of class and subject teaching in elementary and secondary schools) believe that they did not receive a good background during their university studies for strengthening teaching creativity. It transpired that creativity, as opposed to student and teacher, is appreciated less at the school and education system levels. Teachers (of all levels) have shown high level of agreement regarding the need for turnover in relation to creativity in Mathematics teaching, which would guarantee increase of interest of students for Mathematics.
Contemporary learning processes in schools and universities could not be imagined without the use of computers and calculators. Naturally, all is good if they are used in order to acquire new knowledge or solve problems from expert subjects in technical schools, which demand large quantity of simple mathematical operations. However, what if frequent use of calculators, either pocket or those installed on every home and school computer, becomes an addiction in students who begin using them while calculating simple mathematical operations, such as multiplying or adding and detracting one-digit numbers or numbers smaller than 20, when they should know this by heart? We arrived at this hypothesis during knowledge tests for students after regular demonstrations and elaborations of Mathematics subject matter. In order to confirm or deny this hypothesis, generic/developmental method, that is, survey was used as one of research techniques (Selimović, 2013., p. 104). The survey was conducted in March during academic 2016/2017 and the sample consisted of 59 students in 2nd grade of Grammar School Tešanj.
Contemporary changes in the whole system of education and training require the teacher to be a person of trust, educator, counselor, friend, organizer, coordinator, associate, innovator, assessor, mentor; in another words, a contemporary and modern person. In the modern school (even more in the future) the role of the teacher is far wider. He needs to be active in school, outside of school, within free activities, as well as cultural and public activities of the school. A good teacher does not resist the influence of a student, because his or her extremely responsible role can be successfully achieved, if they work well with them. To cooperate in this context does not mean that only the teacher listens to the student's suggestions, although that is also very important, but cooperating means accepting the student's proposal, if they are objectively acceptable or explain why a particular proposal cannot be realized. It is not possible to work well and democratically in the classroom if the student's influence is not accepted. If the teacher's behavior and style of work are not necessarily limited to the work and behavior of a student, then there is no interaction, and the teaching process must be an interaction. Changes in the society affect school changes, and changes in school play the most important role in changing the position of the teacher and his role and the style of work in the teaching process. The survival and future of the school is reflected in its educational role. In order for a teacher to be an educator, to fulfill his or her educational role, he/she must love or sympathize with the kids, respect their opinion, encourage them to achieve good results, but also to share with them possible misunderstandings and failures. The success and superiority of teachers as educators depends more on the quality of the relationships established, and less on the knowledge of the subject being taught, even though this component cannot be ignored.Thanks to the good work style, the teacher can achieve better results in the educational process. This does not only apply to the choice of working methods, but the style of work is reflected in the overall individual pedagogical practice of teachers. In the style of work the teacher expresses his / her independence, creativity, initiative, democracy or authoritarianism, lack of competence, irresponsibility. In modern school, children need to play a central role, and the school should become a place where they are exploring, examining, solving problems and to lead them to a deliberate dialogue. Students need to experience the school as a place where the child develops in cognitive, emotional and social sense, and where the child's motivation to work is at a high level. Active teaching (active learning, active school) is an original pedagogical creation based on theoretical settings and practical attempts of transformation of a traditional school into an active school, i.e. a school in which both the student and the teacher have an active role. Thinking about active learning is inspired by the works of Kerenstahner (work school), Laj, Dekrol (school for life and life), Klapard (school by sea), Djuij (pragmatic conception), Montesori, Fereira (active school) Frenoa, Dalton plan, Vinteka-plan, etc. The summary of their research endeavors and theoretical endeavors, aimed at constituting an active school, is the following Piaget's statement, which for active teaching has an absolute programmatic meaning: "In one of the words, the basic principle of active methods should be inspired by the history of science and can be expressed in the following way: Something means self-discovery or reconstruction through re-discovery and it is necessary to adhere to that principle if in the future we want to shape people who will be capable of producing and creating and not just repeating what already exists. " To reach a comprehensive and precise concept of active learning, the activity of children in the learning process is of paramount importance. From the cited Piaget's theoretical point of view, for the active learning, three are very important elements: An important component of activity as an internal (mental) activity is defined: this activity (or at least one of its, important for school learning) is the passage through the intellectual processes through which it came to science when it came to discoveries and finds. So, the student briefly reconstructs these thought processes; The object of thought activities is not only their own immediate experience but also the intellectual content of certain scientific disciplines; The basic goals of school learning through active methods are: a good understanding of what is in science but also the adoption of intellectual arts for productive and creative activities. The traditional school works on pre-defined plans and programs and the goal of the curriculum is to adopt the program. The basic teaching method is the lecture (verbal transfer of knowledge) with the occasional use of teaching resources. The student has a mostly passive role of a listener who has to understand, remember and reproduce the compulsory material. Evaluation, whether verbally or in writing, consists in verifying the measure in which the required degree has been adopted. Learning motives are largely external to nature (appreciation, praise, reward, punishment ...) In a traditional school, the child is looked upon as a pupil, that is to one who should, with understanding, repeat the course more profoundly. An active school is more focused on a young man who is treated as a whole person whose intellectual potentials need to engage more in the teaching process. The active school is based on compulsory education standards based on which the orientation plans and work programs are designed. Such access also implies a part of teaching that is flexible and varies depending on the student's interest. Learning motivation is personal (internal). In teaching, active learning methods are based on work and intellectual engagement of students and research activities. The goal of an active school is not only the adoption of a curriculum, but also the versatile personality development of students. The active school evaluates not only the degree of competence of the knowledge defined by the educational standards, but also the progress of the children in comparison with the initial situation, the motivation and interest of the students for work and activity, the development of the personality and the satisfaction of the student's teaching that is realized.
It is very difficult to motivate students when it comes to a school subject like Mathematics. Teachers spend a lot of time trying to find something that will arouse interest in students. It is particularly difficult to find materials that are motivating enough for students that they eagerly wait for the next lesson. One of the solutions may be found in Vedic Mathematics. Traditional methods of teaching Mathematics create fear of this otherwise interesting subject in the majority of students. Fear increases failure. Often the traditional, conventional mathematical methods consist of very long lessons which are difficult to understand. Vedic Mathematics is an ancient system that is very flexible and encourages the development of intuition and innovation. It is a mental calculating tool that does not require a calculator because the calculator is embedded in each of us. Starting from the above problems of fear and failure in Mathematics, the goal of this paper is to do research with the control and the experimental group and to compare the test results. Two tests should be done for each of the groups. The control group would do the tests in the conventional way. The experimental group would do the first test in a conventional manner and then be subjected to different treatment, that is to say, be taught on the basis of Vedic Mathematics. After that, the second group would do the second test according to the principles of Vedic Mathematics. Expectations are that after short lectures on Vedic mathematics results of the experimental group would improve and that students will show greater interest in Mathematics.
A cooperative approach to learning in math class, and especially the fear ofmathematics are the actuality of contemporary class. That would be the subject of much loved depends on the teacher or the methods applied in the process ofrealization of teaching units. The fact is that students often declare how do not like math and choose high school and colleges where there is a minimum of mathematics. Their thinking is a product of the experience with the teacher andthe curriculum in the starting teaching mathematics. In this paper, the statistically significant differences between the written co-operative learning access and success of students in relation to the traditional classes.
Fractions represent the manner of writing parts of whole numbers (integers). Rules for operations with fractions differ from rules for operations with integers. Students face difficulties in understanding fractions, especially operations with fractions. These difficulties are well known in didactics of Mathematics throughout the world and there is a lot of research regarding problems in learning about fractions. Methods for facilitating understanding fractions have been discovered, which are essentially related to visualizing operations with fractions.
Today's modern lifestyle and contemporary ways of working and gaining knowledge in schools and universities could not be imagined without high technology – the Internet. Simply said, internet entered all the pores of contemporary life in big style. If used rationally, internet can truly facilitate work in all spheres of modern man's life. However, internet also has a dark side which comes to light if its excessive use becomes internet addiction, or internet infatuation. We reached this hypothesis through everyday contact with students in class as well as our colleagues teachers. In order to determine if and to what extent internet addiction among students exists, we applied a generic method, that is, we used survey as one of techniques of research. The survey was conducted in October of academic year 2017/2018. Sample of 79 students was selectedfrom first and fourth grades in Secondary school "Muhsin Rizvić" in Kakanj.
In this research the motivation for learning mathematics was tested,as well as the effect of grades on the motivation of primary school level students. On a sample of N=100 participants, primary school students, we conducted a survey, the results of which show that the participants are more motivated with extrinsic factors, then intrinsic factors for learning mathematics. Grades are the main factor that has the most influence on the motivation level of students for learning mathematics, because students need good grades for their further education. The results also show that punishment and rewards from parents for bad and good grades has no effect on the motivation level of students.
