Touch Math: An educational toy designed for Special Educational Needs (SEN) students 觸感數學

Creator

Yiu, Yuen Lam, Christy 姚琬淋

Title

Subject

Industrial design -- China -- Hong Kong -- Exhibitions

College graduates

Date Created

2019-06-24

Relation

PolyU Design - Projects gallery

Format

Photographs

Identifier

ASSD2019BAPDD03P001

ASSD2019BAPDD03P002

Is Part Of

BA (Hons) in Product Design

Description

Touch Math 觸感數學

Behind the project, the inspiration is mainly from my experience of teaching and helping children in my 4-year-university life, the most influential of my life is a student with special educational needs. At that time, being a tutor was that best money-making job for most university students. I was a person who did not like children, however, I did not expect the experience will change my mind or even my life. In the process of being a educator, I tried to think from their perspective, such as “Eight is greater than Four” which is very simple and easy concept that others find difficult to understand. Some parents or teachers might use their own standards to criticize their abilities with annoying and complaining attitudes. In fact, they are not different from their peers, but they need us to understand their difficulty, pay more attention to them and give them supports. They actually have fair learning opportunities and academic pursuits. Based on years of teaching experience, I found that Mathematics is a difficult concept for students with special needs. It is not only a bottleneck for teachers, but also a great challenge for students.

In my Final Year Project, I wish that I could design a set of simple, vivid and interesting math learning game toys through my own observation, and what I have seen and learnt in my 4-year-uni life. Using multi-sensory strategies stimulates their senses of sight, touch, hearing. Embodying the abstract concepts of mathematics in order to help them overcome learning difficulties caused by psychological factors.

此款玩具意念的背後，其實主要是來自我大學這四年接觸及幫助無數小朋友的經驗，當中最影響我生命的是我一位有特殊教育需要的學生。當時補習老師是絕大部分大學生的最佳賺錢工作，而我也不例外。本身由一個不喜歡小朋友的人,沒想到這一點點的經驗竟令我的想法有180度的轉變。在教授的過程之中，我開始嘗試站在他們的角度思考，例如「八大於四」這些別人覺得非常簡單的概念，原來他們卻難以理解。有些人卻抱著厭煩及抱怨的態度，去利用自己的標準去批評他們的能力；而我發現其實他們與同齡的孩子並沒有分別，但相比其實他們更需要我們了解、關注及給予支持,他們都有公平的學習機會和對於學術上的追求。根據多年教學經驗，我發現數學對於特殊需要的學生而言是一門備感艱難的領域，不僅對教師來說是教學上是瓶頸，對學生而言也是極大的挑戰。

在我畢業作品，我希望透過這多年的教學經驗，利用這四年在學校裹的所見所聞，站在他們角度去設計一套簡單易明、生動有趣的數學學習遊戲玩具。利用多感官的策略，刺激他們的視覺、觸覺、動覺、聽覺等多感官，將數學的抽象概念具體化，協助他們克服因心理因素而造成的學習困難。

Collection

PolyU Design Annual Show 2019: beyond the surface = 二〇一九理大設計年展: 表裡以外