Title: UCMAS Abacus Program( Brain Development Program for Primary School Students)
Type of the resource: Resource
Funded by:
Authors:
Type of disability: ALL TYPES
Target education level: Primary education
Language(s): English
Greek
IPR: No
OER: No
Overall objectives of the inclusive learning resource
Inclusive learning intervention logic: (What are the overall broader objectives to which the action will contribute?)
The main objective of UCMAS Abacus Program is to enhance the brain development of children and remove the fear of Mathematics by making the arithmetic calculations easier.
Objectively verifiable indicators of achievement: (What are the key indicators related to the overall objectives?)
It's suggested the child to start this program during primary school Where the brain is at its development stage, hence the children gain the maximum benefits. Grade 1 to grade 6 at primary school and finish it to high school.
Sources and means of verification: (What are the sources of information for these indicators?)
Research by the University of Manchester (UK) 3185 children ages 7 to 11, after an intensive UCMAS program for 34 weeks, 1.5 hours per week, showed increase in the IQ of the children. Research by the University of California San Diego – UCSD (USA) & Massachusetts Institute of Technology– ΜΙΤ(USA). 400 children after being trained on UCMAS, had an advantage in mathematical calculations, they became more accurate and faster compared to children that did not attend the UCMAS program.
Risks and Challenges:
Specific purpose of the inclusive learning resource
Inclusive learning intervention logic: (What specific objective is the resource intended to achieve to contribute to the overall objectives?)
UCMAS utilizes the "Abacus Mental Arithmetic” skills as a training tool for the mental development of children.
Mental Arithmetic is a form of calculation that is solely done by the human mind without the use of pencil and paper, calculator or any other gadget or electronic device.
Objectively verifiable indicators of achievement: (Which indicators clearly show that the objective of the actions/resource has been achieved?)
The brain is triggered from the interaction of the hands’ fingers and the brain. Each finger maps directly to each of the 5 brain sections, with the left and right hands mapping inversely to the 2 brain hemispheres. UCMAS is based on the usage of the abacus, where the child uses the fingers from both hands to move the beads on the abacus. The children learn initially to do calculations using an actual abacus which is in front of them and then use a virtual/imaginary abacus which is in their mind.
Sources and means of verification: (What are the sources of information that exist or can be collected? What are the methods required to get this information?)
UCMAS is implemented in more than 6000 centers and 78 countries worldwide, including USA, Canada, England, Spain, Germany, Russia, Malaysia, India, China, Australia, Japan, Cyprus www.ucmas.com.cy Dr. David Barner – University of California, San Diego, USA and Michael Frank, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA conducted a research on some 400 UCMAS students in the areas of cognition and mental abacus. After being trained on UCMAS, had an advantage in mathematical calculations, they became more accurate and faster compared to children that did not attend the UCMAS program.Click here to review their report: http://www.ucmascoventry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/abacus-parent-summary.pdf Other research work on abacus can be found https://www.ucmas-usa.com/reading-corner/white-papers-research-studies/
Risks and Challenges: (Which factors and conditions outside the user's responsibility are necessary to achieve that objective? (external conditions)) Which risks should be taken into consideration?
The user should follow the program, being on time in class schedule and every sub-level need to pass the exam in order to continue with the next level.
Expected results on implementation of the resource
Inclusive learning intervention logic: (The results are the outputs envisaged to upscale. What are the expected results?)
The child is expected to show improvement in: Memory, Auditory Skills, Concentration and Focus, Concurrency and simultaneous tasks ability, Mathematical Perception and ability, self esteem-self confidence, overall academic performance
Objectively verifiable indicators of achievement: (What are the indicators to measure whether and to what extent the action/resource achieves the expected results?)
Sources and means of verification: (What are the available sources of information for these indicators?)
Improve memory: This is achieved by the effort done by the child to imagine the beads moving in a specific order, hence increasing the child’s photographic memory. Increase in auditory skills: This is achieved by the effort done by the child to respond quickly to verbal instructions that have to do with solving arithmetic calculations.
Increase in concentration/focus: This is achieved by the effort done by the child to visualize the abacus and the changes done on the beads at every stage, while ignoring environmental noise and other distractions. Increase in concurrency and simultaneous tasks ability: This is achieved by the effort done by the child to simultaneously listen, imagine, think, give the answer to complex and concurrent arithmetic calculations. Improve mathematical perception and ability: This is achieved when the child visualizes the virtual/imaginary abacus in their mind, giving incredibly fast and accurate responses. The child will be able to perform mathematical calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and square root. All of these will be done using large numbers with many digits without the use of a calculator and without the abacus Increase in self esteem and self confidence: With the increase in mathematical perception and ability,your child will no longer be afraid of numbers and mathematics in general. Improvement in the overall academic performance: When a child has high self esteem and high self confidence in relatively difficult topics, such as mathematics, the child will feel different, that he/she is better than other children and this propagates to the rest of the school lessons, resulting in better performance in all classes
Risks and Challenges: (What external conditions must be met to obtain the expected results on schedule?)
Activities
Inclusive learning intervention logic: (What are the key activities to be carried out and in what sequence in order to reach the expected results?)
The children need to undertake those levels that consist of two sublevels and give exam for each level:
UCMAS 1: Foundation
UCMAS 2: Basic, Elementary A
UCMAS 3: Elementary B, Intermediate A. The virtual abacus in their mind is becoming visible in children after completing this level.
UCMAS 4: Intermediate B, Higher A
UCMAS 5: Higher B, Advanced
UCMAS 6: Grand A, Grand B
Objectively verifiable indicators of achievement: (What are the means required to implement these activities, e.g. personnel, equipment, training, studies, supplies, operational facilities, etc.)
UCMAS Abacus should be applied by a certified UCMAS Trainer. For the student training you need the UCMAS Abacus for each student and the books for each level.
Sources and means of verification: (What are the sources of information about action progress?)
Risks and Challenges: (What pre-conditions are required before the use of the resource starts? What conditions outside the user's direct control have to be met for the implementation of the planned activities?)
Attachment:
URL: http://www.ucmas.com.cy
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