Singapore Math: Simple or Complex?
Using the bar model approach, Singapore textbooks enable students to solve difficult math problems—and learn how to think symbolically.
Bar modeling is a specific variant of the common Draw a Picture mathematics problem-solving strategy. Because Singapore Math uses this one variant consistently, students know what kind of picture to draw. That's an advantage if the bar model is versatile enough to apply to many complex problems—and it is. It is especially useful for problems that involve comparisons, part-whole calculations, ratios, proportions, and rates of change. It communicates graphically and instantly the information that the learner already knows, and it shows the student how to use that information to solve the problem.
The end result of the Singapore Math program is that 6th graders can solve complex, multistep problems that most U.S. students, even those in algebra classes, would find challenging. According to a 2005 study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Singapore Math 6th grade problems are “more challenging than the released items on the U.S. grade 8 National Assessment of Education Progress
