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Learning Diary Week 6

I completed the study tasks for week 6 of my learning diary. I enjoyed learning about patterns of decimals and had success with powers and indices questions. While some questions appeared daunting due to many symbols, simplifying fractions made the problems more manageable. I thought using code unlocking to explain combinations was engaging. However, I struggled with a paper folding exercise due to weak spatial ability. I also had difficulty drawing specific conclusions about cyclic numbers, though working out recurring decimals as fractions came more easily to me.

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32 views4 pages

Learning Diary Week 6

I completed the study tasks for week 6 of my learning diary. I enjoyed learning about patterns of decimals and had success with powers and indices questions. While some questions appeared daunting due to many symbols, simplifying fractions made the problems more manageable. I thought using code unlocking to explain combinations was engaging. However, I struggled with a paper folding exercise due to weak spatial ability. I also had difficulty drawing specific conclusions about cyclic numbers, though working out recurring decimals as fractions came more easily to me.

Uploaded by

Joe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Learning Diary Week 6

Reflections

I really enjoyed this week. I found some of what I learned about patterns of decimals really
interesting. I had a lot of success with the powers and indices questions. One recurring statement I
have made during this course is that I have learned a lot about ways to make psychologically
daunting questions seem far less scary and more manageable. One powers question involved As, Bs
and Cs as well as multiple separate integers. And yet, the Bs and Cs cancelled immediately once the
fractions were brought together and simplified. This is something I think worth stressing to students;
just because a question has a lot of symbols and figures does not mean it is too much to tackle.

I thought the use of, for example, code unlocking as a means of explaining combinations was good. It
seems a lot more engaging than some of the drier examples of combinations questions. I wonder if
this could be incorporated into a practical activity with a smaller number of possibilities; one where
students might be able to write out all combinations and actually crack a code.

One difficulty I faced was in the paper folding exercise. My spatial ability is not fantastic and I did not
even know where to start when faced with the possibility of dividing into thirds or fifths.
Furthermore, even with the instructions given, I found the folding difficult and had to think very hard
before each fold, despite it being quite simple. However, as many children learn best practically, it is
certainly something I should work on.

Another difficulty I found is drawing any specific conclusions regarding cyclic numbers (topic 1 in the
study tasks). I attempted to search for patterns with all prime numbers up to 17; x/2, x/3, x/5, x/7,
x/11, x/13 and x/17. I noticed that x/7 and x/17 fitted the criteria of having p-1 recurring decimals.
However, aside from this I did not notice very much that was not already stated (such as the
reordering of the decimal patterns). While I was systematic, I did not try to analyse non-primes while
thinking about their prime factors (i.e. whether they could be made out of a 2 or 5).

Thankfully, the technique for working out the recurring decimals as fractions came much more
easily. It is also a very similar technique each time and is a good way to teach students about the role
of decimal points. I think I would have an easier time explaining these steps to students than I would
some of the more practical elements such as the paper folding.
Work + Study Tasks

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