Functional literacy is a key benchmark for improving the quality of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the need for education that ensures success and social adaptation in a rapidly changing world.
Functional literacy is the ability of a person to enter into relations with the external environment, quickly adapt and function in it. The foundations of functional literacy are laid in elementary school.
A functionally literate person is a person:
oriented in the world and acting in accordance with public values, expectations and interests;
able to be independent in a situation of choice and decision-making;
able to take responsibility for their decisions;
owning the techniques of teaching and ready for constant retraining;
possessing a set of competencies, both key and in various areas of knowledge;
for which the search for a solution in a non-standard situation is a common occurrence;
easily adaptable in any society and able to actively influence it;
fluent in oral and written speech as a means of interaction between people;
proficient in modern information technologies.
The results of international studies (PISA, TIMSS) indicate a low level of formation among Kazakhstani schoolchildren of the skills of comparison, correlation, comparison, generalization, finding points of contact between phenomena of different quality, as well as ideas synthesized on a body of knowledge of a different nature. Schoolchildren demonstrate the "alienation" of the acquired knowledge and skills. They acquire fragmentary information about the world. Students do not know how to connect the newly studied material with the previously studied, to use knowledge in other subjects in the lessons.
Innovations in the teaching of mathematics are associated with the actualization of mathematical literacy as an integral component of life skills. In PISA, math literacy refers to the ability of students to:
recognize problems that arise in the surrounding reality and which can be solved by means of mathematics;
formulate these problems in the language of mathematics;
solve these problems using mathematical facts and methods;
analyze the solution methods used;
interpret the results obtained taking into account the problem posed;
formulate and record the results of the decision.
It follows from the foregoing: functional mathematical literacy implies the student's ability to use the mathematical knowledge acquired by him during his studies at school to solve various problems of interdisciplinary and practice-oriented content, for further education and successful socialization in society.
How to develop mathematical literacy of students in mathematics lessons? We offer solutions to practical problems. A problem with practical content is understood as a mathematical problem that reveals the applications of mathematics in the reality around us, in related disciplines, introduces its use in the organization, technology and economy of modern production, in the service sector, in everyday life, in the performance of labor operations.
It is advisable to use tasks with practical content in the learning process to reveal the variety of applications of mathematics in life, the originality of its reflection of the real world and the achievement of such didactic goals as:
motivation for the introduction of new mathematical concepts and methods;
illustration of educational material;
consolidation and deepening of knowledge on the subject;
formation of practical skills and abilities.
Here are examples of such tasks:
The length of the playground is 4 m, and the width is 3 m. For safe play, square-shaped rubber mats with a side of 2 dm are required. How many playground mats do you need?
The length of the garden is 50 m, the width is 40 m. Berry crops grow on an area of ​​750 m2 of this garden, and fruit trees grow on the rest. How many square meters are occupied by fruit trees?
For the construction of a garage, you can use the foundation of foam blocks. For a foam block foundation, 2 m3 of foam blocks and 3 bags of cement are required. 1 m3 of foam blocks costs 20,000 tenge, and a bag of cement costs 1,000 tenge. How much does it cost to build a garage?
For the construction of the shed, 6 bags of cement were brought, 50 kg each, sand twice as much, and gravel 4 times more than cement. For the preparation of concrete, a third of all these materials were used. How many kilograms of materials are left?
A land plot 200 m long and 100 m less wide must be enclosed with a fence. How many fence spans will be required if the length of one span is 2 m?
The famous mathematician George Poya said: “What does it mean to master mathematics? This is the ability to solve problems, and not only standard ones, but also requiring a certain independence of thinking, common sense, originality, ingenuity. The systematic use of tasks and assignments of practical content in mathematics lessons forms and develops the functional literacy of younger students, allows you to navigate more confidently in the simplest patterns of the environment.
Methodical literature on functional literacy
https://ksg18.edu.kz/assets/media/1624960751228.pdf