Knowing and personally experiencing the challenges that face the Visually oriented thinker I was amazed by the techniques and strategies mentioned in all of my research on math and the VSL. If my teachers in elementary and high school had utilized the visual extensions of math concepts/techniques called MANIPULATIVES, my math knowledge base would be much stronger. MANIPULATIVES are any type of teaching that allows the learner to touch or "see" a concept rather than simply hear, say, a lecture on the subject. See the pictures below for illustrations of math manipulatives and check out these awesome links for specific ways to integrate manipulatives into your curriculum:
http://www.borenson.com/
http://www.resourceroom.net/math/lowhightech.asp
Currently, in my visual arts classes at the high school level, I only have to use math in a few select lessons. The math concepts we incorporate in ceramics have to do with measuring clay slabs with rulers to create sculptures or functional ware. We also have to convert and measure out glaze recipes. In my digital video classes we involve math when creating our mock film budgets.
In both classes, I always use manipulatives and hands-on methods when incorporating math. I do this for the students but also for myself because math is an intense struggle for me. Even simple multiplication, fractions and percentiles usually take major brain power on my part. So for any measuring in ceramics we use rulers and build clay models first to apply our measurements and test them before building the physical piece. When converting weights for a glaze we use our sketchbook journals and "funnel" maps to organize our equations.
VSLs like finding patterns and rhythm in numbers and will enjoy learning math when paired with anything that involves movement and visual references.
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