Estimation Visual

Mathematics as a subject all across India is still taught in a broadcast manner wherein the teacher explains the concepts on a blackboard to a class of 50 something students. However, visual estimation is a mechanism of using your eyes and brain to come up with a value that is close enough to the right answer, without really measuring or otherwise counting an object. This process of visual estimation can be used to estimate a number of things including volumes, lengths, heights, areas, angles, and quantities.

Example of Visual Estimation

An example of estimating counts of counting candies in a jar will help you understand the process of estimation-visual. Let’s say you enter a candy guessing competition, you can either just select a random number out of the air or apply visual estimation to obtain the nearest answer. For example, Alex’s visual estimate that there are 250 candies in this jar below is a lot more accurate than Mark’s guess that there are 1500!

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Uses of Visual Estimation

Finding the value that is close enough to the correct answer by thought and observation allows for estimating different objects and quantities. Having said that, a visual estimation can be used for estimating lengths apart from estimating:

• Lengths

• Heights

• Areas

• angles 

• Volumes

• Quantities

Benefits of Visual Learning

Introducing visual learning to the educational system can:

• Help students better engage with math tasks and problems.

• Increase retention power and understandability by a certain amount.

• Build higher-order thinking skills.

• Sharpen basic abilities enabling students to notice and conceptualize visuals clearly.

• Serve the special needs of learners processing information mainly through visuals, as well as increase learning capacity.

• Provide new opportunities to students experiencing learning differences.

• Challenge students who are more exceptional in problem-solving.

How to Teach a Visual Learner Math?

When it comes to more formal math instruction, there are particular methods that will help make it more accessible and understandable to visual learners. Some Techniques for Teaching Visual Learners Math is Color therapy.

Are Visual Learners More Intelligent?

Ability to distinguish and discern the visual, these learners tend to think in pictures and require developing vivid mental images in order to retain information. Such learners have highly developed auditory skills and are usually sophisticated speakers. They think in words instead of pictures.

Estimation of Numbers

Estimation of Numbers and symbols is a crucial aspect of mathematics, and we engage in it regularly, every day. Be it estimating a grocery item, electricity bill, a person's height or weight, or while solving a Maths problem. But of course, estimation is not always good enough, often we need to know the exact number.

We involuntarily participate in approximation all our lives. Be it a kid estimating how much jelly beans he/she can have from his parents, an employee estimating the performance bonus, or a stock market analyst conjecturing the trends in the markets. Just the scale differs. If one had to describe estimation, it would appear something like this, estimation is to create an approximate opinion or judgment with respect to the worth, weight, size, amount, etc. or in other words calculate approximately.

Conclusion

Visual estimation can help analyze and improve a child’s understanding of mathematics while studying the impact of visualization. Different sections of a child’s brain brighten up when they undertake mathematical problem-solving.

Fun Facts

• When a child performs simple mathematical operations (such as multiplication of two numbers), the visual processing parts of the mind (dorsal and ventral pathways) get activated.

• It’s surprising, but your child consciously attempts to visualize mathematical tasks in their head, even for the most basic mathematical work!

• When trying to explain the significance of visual tools in imparting knowledge of mathematical concepts in schools, math experts would have to contend with this reaction regularly.

• Various international organizations for mathematics such as the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and National Council for the Teaching of Mathematics (NCTM) have consistently promoted the use of multiple visual representations for a student’s learning of mathematics.

• Traditional blackboard learning of mathematics hinders your child from thinking visually resulting in a pattern of rote learning.