WEBVTT

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Well nowadays almost all mathematics

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educators agree that developing students'

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understanding and creativity is important.

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However there is less agreement about

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the importance of practice in the

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learning of mathematics. In Asian

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mathematics classroom, particularly in

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Chinese classrooms, teachers usually

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believe that practice makes perfect

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and view it as a general principle for

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mathematics teaching and learning. And it

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is widely believed that practice makes

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perfect is underlying belief behind

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teachers' teaching methods in Asian

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classrooms, particularly in Chinese

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classrooms. It emphasizes the importance

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of adequate routine or manipulative

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practice in students learning of

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mathematics. Through imitation and

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repetitive practice, students will become

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highly skilled. And many Asian

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educators also believed that Chinese

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students' top performance in Timss and Pisa

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is partly because of a considerable

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amount of routine practice problem

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solving in tests that student students

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completed. According to Professor Li, a

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professor he is at the China Normal

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University in Shanghai, and some other

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researchers, that the mechanism of

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routine practice should not be simply

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interpreted as a way in which students

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only mechanically imitate and memorize

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rules and skills. In addition,

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manipulation or practice provides

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students with necessary condition of

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concept

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formation. And it is the first step of

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mathematical comprehension. In

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implementing this principle practice

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makes perfect, two words are relevant.

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One is familiarity, and the other is

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variation. Familiarity means the

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practice is for students to be familiar

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with and be proficient at mathematics

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concepts and skills. Variation it means

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practice is for the students to broaden

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their experience and understanding of

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the concepts and skills.