WAAMA Document No.2/2018
Summary on the 5th Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Education Academic Exchange Seminar of WAAMA
Meeting time: December 1, 2017
Meeting place: the 3rd Teaching Building Conference Horseshoe-shaped Classroom 4 of Shanghai National Accounting Institute
Attendance: the member units of WAAMA
The World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (WAAMA) held the 5th Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Education Academic Exchange Seminar in Shanghai National Accounting Institute on December 1, 2017. Vice President Yeh, Tseng-Yi and Secretary General Wang Chaocai presided over the meeting.
In the morning, the seminar was chaired by Mr. Yeh, Tseng-Yi. There were four experts made special reports from the aspects of brain cognition, psychology, pedagogy and abacus- based mental arithmetic separately.
The meeting started with the report by Mr. Zhou Xinlin, a professor from National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University. The title of the report was “Transfer Effects of Mental Abacus Training and Future Studies”. This report reviewed the research achievements in the aspects of cognitive behavior, nuclear magnetic resonance, brain mechanism and so on. On the basis of combing, with the method that is different from “variance analysis”, Professor Zhou proved that the training of abacus-based mental arithmetic can promote the development of children’s visuospatial ability, memory, attention, and so on. Although the abacus-based mental arithmetic learning has no effect on language ability, long-term learning can improve the FA value of the whole brain and the specific brain region, which is the consistency of the brain white matter. He also proposed that the abacus-based mental arithmetic the operation of the image, unlike ordinary arithmetic and calculation, it should be defined as space operations. At the same time, he put forward a new idea of the dot-matrix function of the abacus, which coincides with the research conclusion of the experts and scholars on the Zhusuan . At present, he has made some progress in studying the influence of training of abacus-based mental arithmetic to the understanding and application of spatial imagination ability and mathematical principle. The research project will be completed on July 2018. He hoped to receive the strong support of Zhusuan associations at all levels in the research of the subject, especially in brain scans of experts of abacus-based mental arithmetic.
Then, Mr. Ma Fu, a professor from Nanjing Normal University, gave a report entitled “Understand Mathematics as an Educational Task—How to Comprehend Teaching of Mental Abacus Calculation”. Professor Ma pointed out that Zhusuan can make the child feel the cardinal number and feel the addition, which is conducive to the establishment of the concept of the number of children, and also promotes children’s understanding and learning of the addition and subtraction of mathematical operations. He also expounded that the abacus-based mental arithmetic accords with the cognitive development of the students in the lower grade of primary school. Learning abacus-based mental arithmetic can improve students' mathematics cognitive development level and mathematical thinking ability. He also proposed that during the teaching of abacus-based mental arithmetic, attention should be paid to embodying the feature of "doing math", that is, the transition from intuitive operation (actual moving beads) to behavior internalization (moving beads by image).
He said that under the background of contemporary mathematics education, we could not simply pay attention to the skill of numerical calculation of abacus-based mental arithmetic and should regard it more as a kind of carrier. In other words, abacus-based mental arithmetic should be regarded as the carrier of learning instead of learning goals. It can both help students understand mathematics and help students develop the awareness of thinking, good habits of mind, perception of thinking methods, that is, we should not treat abacus-based mental arithmetic education as a " results-based education ", we should treat it as a "process education". We should pay more attention to its process. This is the meaning of abacus-based mental arithmetic education.
Mr. Tan Dingliang, a professor from School of Psychology of Nanjing Normal University, gave a report entitled “The Pedagogical Perspectives on the Teaching of Abacus-based Mental Calculation (AMC) in Early Childhood”. On the basis of fully expounding the necessity of the teaching of AMC in early childhood, Professor Tan thought that the teaching of AMC not only accords with the critical period of child development and the embodied cognition theory, but also meets the requirements of Brain Planning era of China. We should paid attention to some problems such as the orientation of teaching aim, methods, individual differences, and the link between kindergarten and primary school at the beginning of teaching children AMC. He further pointed out that the function of AMC is not to calculate, but to train the brain. It is the mental training that promotes the improvement of the computing power, rather than the improvement of computing power promotes the development of the brain. Meanwhile, attention should also be paid to the positive transfer function of AMC.
Ms. Liu Qinying, a professor from Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences and a Deputy Secretary-General from Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (CAMAA), first of all, from the perspective of the history of mathematical development, talked about why written calculation starts calculation from a low number. She also explained the calculation principle and algorithm for the written calculation and Zhusuan. That is, written calculation starts calculation from low number, Zhusuan starts from high number. Then she gave a report entitled “Chinese Zhusuan from Perspective of Another Knowledge System”. On the basis of expounding the meaning of knowledge system and “another knowledge system”, professor Liu briefly introduced that the Chinese traditional mathematics and the Western mathematics belong to the mechanical mathematical system and the axiomatic mathematical system respectively, and illustrated the unique advantages of the Chinese Zhusuan from two aspects of hardware and software. Furthermore, she made a comparative analysis and research on the written arithmetic and Chinese Zhusuan , which belong to two kinds of knowledge systems, from the aspects of counting, binary number, combination of numbers and graphs, relation with computer and mathematics enlightenment education. Thus we realize that the inheritance and protection of the Chinese Zhusuan need to seriously study the “Zhusuan meaning”, and use it as a starting point to construct the enlightenment of mathematics curriculum knowledge structure and computer algorithm enlightenment education system by Chinese Zhusuan so as to further explore the practical value of abacus-based mental arithmetic, structure a system for abacus-based mental arithmetic practice and develop intelligent education for children and the elderly.
After listening to the experts’ reports, the meeting host summarized and fully affirmed the experts’ reports. The abacus-based mental arithmetic should not only pay attention to the improvement of its calculation ability, but also pay more attention to its enlightening effect. The abacus-based mental arithmetic is not only helpful to children, but also to slow down some symptoms of the elderly, and help them live happily and healthily. With regard to Chinese Zhusuan under another knowledge system, we should study the development of the knowledge system and the integration with other similar systems. Our common goal is to vigorously inherit, protect, carry forward the Chinese Zhusuan culture and develop the education of abacus-based mental arithmetic.
In the afternoon, the seminar was chaired by Mr. Wang Chaocai, Secretary General of WAAMA. First of all, Alexsander K. Taslim, Director General of SEMPOA SIP Indonesia, introduced the beginning and progress of SEMPOA SIP in terms of abacus-based mental arithmetic education in Indonesia. When he talked about the situation of starting abacus-based mental arithmetic education in 20 years ago, he was particularly grateful for the strong support from Chinese abacus and mental arithmetic education community. Now that their Association is getting better and better and they have trained more than 10,000 teachers and 1 million students. He also introduced that they put a US program called “Brain gym” in their curriculum so that the abacus-based mental arithmetic education system in Indonesia is very popular. He said that he is very optimistic about the development of the abacus-based mental arithmetic education and hoped all friends from different countries share their knowledge and experience.
Then, Doctor Dino Wong from Malaysia UC International Corporation made a speech. He briefly introduced how to devote himself to the field of abacus-based mental arithmetic education and how to expand it overseas. He emphasized that in the process of 20 years’ development, all of us are constantly improving, teaching students in accordance with their aptitudes, and the goal of curriculum training is changing from improving children's mental abilities to strengthening children's mental, physical and mental capacities in an all-round way. Finally, we can comprehensively enhance the children's attention, observation, creativity, reasoning ability and so on.
Huey-Chiang Huang, the founding chairman of Chinese American Abacus Association, the United State, presented a report entitled “Pursuing Excellence – A Short Introduction to Chinese American Abacus Association”, focusing on the external cultural exchange and competition of the association. They were widely spread as the main axis within the range of their ability to operate, and were rooted in the culture education of Chinese school. She hoped that in reality we can carry out this mission of spreading cultural knowledge and developing trans-cultural teaching resources; provide richer course content and mathematics education by participating in and organizing international conference and activities, as well as strengthening the content of teaching materials. During the reporting period, Chairman Huang also inserted the video which reflects their activities such as the education and teaching, as well as the identification of competitions about abacus and mental arithmetic, letting participants have a more vivid understanding of their organization.
Huang Wenkun, the principal of the Beijing You-Yeah Cultural Development Co., Ltd, gave a report entitled “the Research and Development and Practice of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic APP”, to comprehensive introduce their abacus-based mental arithmetic teaching and training software APP from the aspects of the abacus-based mental arithmetic teaching, training, management, appraisal, competition, homework, and so on. With the assistance of the staff, 10 delegates handed the tablet computer with abacus-based mental arithmetic APP system and voluntarily participated in on-site demonstrations and exercises. The demonstrations and exercises shocked the participants. They thought the development of the software meets the needs of the new era, and we can make fully use the network to promote the development of the abacus-based mental arithmetic, then to help more children contact and learn abacus and mental arithmetic through APP. To research and develop this APP is of great significance. It can greatly simplify the competition procedure, save the time of marking test papers, and make the large-scale public events easier. Principal Huang also talked about the next step in the development and application of APP: They will improve and perfect abacus-based mental arithmetic APP in other versions, such as Japanese, English, Chinese, and Arabic in March next year.
Lu Ping, the vice president of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association of Shanghai, gave a report entitled “Carrying Forward the Intangible Cultural Heritage & Expanding the Functions of Chinese Zhusuan in Serving the Community”. She introduced the development and practice of “Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Course for the Elderly” to promote the enlightenment and mental strengthening and the “Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Course for a Sunny Family” to help the mentally disabled to better adapt to the society. With regard to the development and practice of the abacus–based mental arithmetic course for the elderly, she mainly introduced the concrete practice and experience of objectives of the course, implementation processes, and achievements of the project. About the development and practice of the abacus-based mental arithmetic course for a sunny family, she mainly introduced strengthening course development, paying attention to training teachers, building exchange platforms, and effects of the project, and so on. Vice president Lu further emphasized that the culture of Chinese Zhusuan can be traced far back into history, the expansion of its social and culture functions bears a far-reaching significance as it is a responsibility granted us by our times, and we are forever on the road!
Wang Yili, the president of Zhusuan Association of Jiangsu Province, gave a report entitled “Integrate into Mathematical Learning, Innovate the Way to Promote Abacus and Mental Arithmetic”. He introduced the implementing measures, concrete method and process of integrating abacus-based mental arithmetic teaching with elementary school mathematics teaching in Jiangsu province. President Wang elaborated the implementing measures and concrete process of integrating the abacus and mental arithmetic education and teaching with the elementary school mathematics in Jiangsu province from the four aspects of “Why to integrate, how to integrate, infects of integration, and integrate and think”. He expounded the reason of integrate” from three aspects of cultural inheritance, educational function, and need of integration. He elaborated “how to integrate” from two aspects of reinforcing top-level design and the implementation of project. He explained the “infects of integration” from three aspects of pointing out the direction for experiment, making teachers aware of what to pursue, and reserving force for student development. He elaborated the “integrate and think” from two aspects of need of experiment and continuous exploration. He further talked about that he hope to exchange with people from the abacus-based mental arithmetic circle of China and even the world on the way to explore, and go the way to integrate abacus-based mental arithmetic with mathematical learning without change, and continuing to improve and innovate, and doing more to inherit and carry forward the Chinese treasure of abacus.
Yuan Jilin, the vice president of Zhusuan Association of Changchun, gave a report entitled “Collective Wisdom of Education on Zhusuan Promotion of Key Competences Fostering”. From four aspects he elaborated their implementation programs, methods, and concrete practices in promoting the cultivation of students’ core literacy in the teaching of abacus-based mental arithmetic education. First, make comprehensive arrangement, strengthen overall planning and create clear development direction of promotion of key competences fostering by abacus education. Secondly, conduct thorough investigation, fully demonstrate and explore the development path of key competences fostering promoted by Zhusuan education. Thirdly, establish goals, decompose tasks and carry out subject studies on promotion of key competences fostering by Zhusuan education. Fourthly, check with contest and create good atmosphere for promotion of key competences fostering by Zhusuan education.
Liang Yurong, Secretary General of Zhusuan Association of Heilongjiang Province, introduced the present situation and the next plan of the magazine “Zhusuan Yu Zhuxinsuan”. Taking “only the Chinese can read magazine and get knowledge of the 2015 World Cup of Cities in the United States” as an example, she said that only the Chinese version of the magazine “Zhusuan Yu Zhuxinsuan” is not good enough to keep up with the development needs of the times. To popularize Chinese Zhusuan better, propaganda is very important, we must expand the influence of the magazine “Zhusuan Yu Zhuxinsuan”. So Secretary General Liang planned to run the magazine into Chinese and English version, and if it is well done, it can also be made into Korean version, Japanese version and so on.
Secretary General Wang Chaocai made summary of the meeting in the afternoon. He said that, comparing with the communication in the morning, we mainly exchanged and discussed the abacus-based mental arithmetic educational teaching experience and methods in the afternoon. Secretary General Wang give high appraisal to SEMPOA SIP Indonesia for their the development of abacus-based mental arithmetic. He said that Doctor Dino Wong has set up teaching school in the Middle East and Africa, and he has used the identification standard of WAAMA for many years. He thanks for Mrs. Huey-Chiang Huang, Founding Chairman of Chinese American Abacus Association, and vice president of WAAMA, who has done a lot of work for the development and communication of the abacus and mental arithmetic. He said that vice president Lu Ping of Shanghai Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association has done a lot of work for the popularization and development of abacus-based mental arithmetic and made a lot of achievements. In particular, they set up abacus-based mental arithmetic courses for the disabled and the elderly. This is worth observing and studying. He thought Jiangsu Province is in the forefront of the integration of abacus-based mental arithmetic and mathematics teaching, and the development prospect is very good. He hoped that they can sum up their experience on the basis of practice and keep innovating and developing. As for the cultivation of core literacy, Secretary General Wang mentioned that the ministry of education has always emphasized the education of core literacy, so what role on earth does the abacus-based mental arithmetic play. This requires further discussion and research. About the teaching and management software APP for the abacus-based mental arithmetic, Secretary General Wang gave full recognition and said that if anyone is interested or needs, please contact Principal Huang Wenkun, the Beijing You-Yeah Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
Finally, Secretary General Wang Chaocai announced that the 5th Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Education Academic Exchange Seminar of WAAMA was successfully concluded, and looked forward to seeing everyone again in Bandung, Indonesia, and wished everyone all return safely!
The World Association of Abacus ad Mental Arithmetic
Jan. 12, 2018