Malaysia's dependency on science and technology for her economic and social well being also means that the nation is increasingly dependent on the nation's scientific manpower. It is this continuing need to increase the supply of scientific talent that led to expressions of concern regarding the decreasing participation of our young people in science subjects at the school level. The need for more science skills and the reduced participation in science is not just a Malaysian concern - it is a global concern. Nations all over the world are trying to make science attractive to young people through changes in the curriculum and the methods used to deliver that curriculum.

The state of science education is at an important crossroads. As we move closer towards the middle of the first quarter of the 21^st century, the scientific challenges we faced at the end of the last century have not reduced but increased. Global climate change, pandemics like SARS and avian flu, environmental hazards, energy costs and shortfalls, hunger and poverty are issues which all require scientific solutions. Science educators therefore are confronted with myriad of issues such as availability of resources, training of science teachers, religious and sometimes political objections to the teaching of cutting edge science instruction and the dramatic increase in the use of the Internet and the supply of learning resources through the WWW.

This section will be presented in two parts as illustrated in the table below:

Learning Outcome

By the end of this section, you should be able to have an appreciation of the power of visualisation in the teaching of mathematics.