Research On Individualized Mathematics Instruction For Athlete Students In High School

Based on the principle of subjectivity in education,every student should have equal learning opportunity.Compared with regular students,athlete students,who have to balance academic learning and sports training at the same time and are faced with the same testing criteria in mathematics as other students,often find it difficult to deal with the burden.Therefore,it is necessary to design individualized instructions to increase their interest in learning mathematics and also find effective learning methods.The study is thereby aiming to investigate the following questions:(1)What are the learning interests and academic level of senior high one athlete students in mathematics? What are the differences between athlete students and other students in the two aspects?(2)After receiving individualized instructions,what changes have taken place in learning interest and academic level in mathematics of athlete students and regular students?This study investigates students’ mathematics learning interest and academic level at the time of admission via a pre-survey and mathematics scores in high school entrance examination,which are used as the basis for the design of individualized mathematics instructions.By various methods including post-survey into learning interest,classroom observation,case studies,student interviews,and mathematics tests to keep constant track of students’ changes in learning interest and academic levels,the study draws the following conclusions:(1)Athlete students’ triggered-SI,Maintained-SI and Individual interest are in a descending order in mathematics learning.Their average interest levels in mathematics in all dimensions are lower than those of regular students.Most of them are not confident in their mathematics academic level,not willing to study with mathematical software,and their willingness to communicate and cooperate with other students is also weak.They are full of fear of mathematics and their mathematics performance is at an obviously lower level at the admission.(2)When designing the individualized instructions,the author attempted to integrate sports into mathematics,create situations and learning themes familiar to athlete students,design layered homework and encourage athlete students to engage in a wide range of learning activities.The follow-up investigation reveals that the athlete students’ mathematics interest levels in all dimensions have been significantly improved.Their awareness of using mathematical software and the willingness to engage in mathematical communication and cooperation have been improved.Meanwhile,their fear of mathematics has been reduced and their academic results have shown progress in varying degrees.The gap of academic achievement between the athlete students and regular students has been narrowed continuously.Furthermore,individualized mathematics instructions have been found to have positive effects on regular students as well.On the basis of this research,prospects of the individualized mathematics instructions for not only athlete students but also other types of specialty students are also discussed.