Mental Computation

When I was in Year 1, 2 and 3, the thing i like the most during Mathematics subject  is when my teacher ask mathematical questions and we have to write down the answer in our book. That might probably due to the fact that the competitive mood created when we were all excited to write the correct answer quickly. This is my little experience engaging in mental computation.

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What is Mental Computation?


When people hear the term "mental computation" many think of the mental arithmetic problems they did at school which focuses on producing correct answers quickly.  In fact, when I was first time introduced to this term, I think of what my teacher did in my early school (which I have described in the first paragraph). While not neglecting the correctness of the answer, mental computation emphasises the mental processes used to achieve the answer.


Studies have found that some students are able to choose from a variety of strategies based on their number sense while others are using mental images of pencil-paper algorithms. 


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Tips For Teachers:


1)  To develop mental computation in the classroom, teachers can encourage students to explain how they arrived at their answers and to compare their strategies with those of other students.


2)  Teach mental computation; don't just test it. Teacher need to emphasize on the way how answers are obtained and don't just put all the focus on the speed of getting the correct answer.


3)  Some strategies can be learned through discussion, sharing, etc. Therefore, teacher should provide opportunity and space for the students acquire other strategies for their peers.