Teachers need to teach mathematics in such a way that it brings out the understanding of the processes instead of the product. The way school mathematics at the basic school and senior high schools. The following are some factors why prospective Mathematics teachers should study the psychological basis of teaching and learning mathematics at the training stage.
Knowledge of psychological of teaching mathematics helps the teacher to understand how their students learn(that is, how the human brain functions). Learning in general deals with the use of the intellect and mathematics is an intellectual activity.
Teachers need to know-how experience and human thinking interact to bring about mathematical ability. This helps us to see how individual reasons, based on his or her response to questions teachers pose so that the teacher can help the child along the child’s line in the best possible way.
The theories of learning covered in psychology know individual differences among learners they teach. Teachers need to rely on sound theories to teach mathematics well to the heterogeneous groups of learners in the classroom. Learners have different learning abilities and difficulties. There are also different learning styles for the students we teach -the visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic learning styles. Some students learn mainly by seeing, others mainly by hearing, some by doing and actively handling materials. The need to design strategies to attend to or cater to all these categories of learners calls for the study of the psychological basis for mathematics instructions. The teacher has to deal with the special learners, both the gifted and slow learners.
Teachers need the knowledge of the Psychological basis of teaching mathematics to back the assertion that mathematics should be taught as a process and not as products that learners will understandable follow the steps well and enjoy mathematics. The psychological theories give back to the teaching strategies teachers employ in the classroom and this makes the teachers teach mathematics effectively
