What makes for successful numeracy education in remote Indigenous contexts: an ethnographic case study approach. There are many successful teachers and schools who have enabled remote Indigenous learners to engage with, and learn, school mathematics. But what do they do? How do they do it? This project investigates and documents successful practices in 32 schools located in remote communities. The project includes the many aspects of teaching practice.
Social and geographical location and its impact on mathematics teaching and learning. Too many students from poor urban backgrounds or from rural communities are at risk of underperforming in school mathematics. This project identifies the critical factors that contribute to this failure and seeks to develop improved practices to enable greater access to school mathematics.
For the sake of the argument: developing students' inferential arguments in statistics. Data adds power and persuasion to arguments in every aspect of life: work, citizenship or personal. This international collaboration will infuse argumentation skills into the learning of school statistics. New knowledge developed in this project will forge a citizenry, workforce and scientists savvy in creating and critiquing data-based arguments.
Statistical literacy in the primary school: beginning inference. Australia is committed to building a stronger foundation for school mathematics and science. This project will introduce primary school students to beginning inference, a core component of statistical literacy and an increasingly important life skill. Foundations for secondary mathematics study and productive societal participation will be laid.
Young Indigenous students' numeracy learning: Oral language, mathematical representations and engagement. High quality early childhood education for Indigenous students is an essential precondition for school readiness, and Indigenous parents and communities are essential for success and sustainability. Our pilot results confront stereotypes by evidencing that young Indigenous students are mathematically capable learners. It is a significant social and economic loss that a section of the Austral ....Young Indigenous students' numeracy learning: Oral language, mathematical representations and engagement. High quality early childhood education for Indigenous students is an essential precondition for school readiness, and Indigenous parents and communities are essential for success and sustainability. Our pilot results confront stereotypes by evidencing that young Indigenous students are mathematically capable learners. It is a significant social and economic loss that a section of the Australian community is not sufficiently educated to share in the wealth of the nation. Minimal progress on numeracy measures results in failure to engage in higher levels of mathematics. This research builds a foundation in mathematics that levels the assessment playing field and supports participation in higher levels of mathematics.Read moreRead less
Enabling students' critical mathematical thinking. The capacity to use mathematics critically is essential for making prudent decisions and forming balanced judgements about economic, health, environmental and other challenges facing society. Developing Critical Mathematical Thinking (CMT) in the classroom provides students with the necessary skills to address complex real-world problems. Fostering CMT, however, is difficult and teaching practices around its development are under-researched and ....Enabling students' critical mathematical thinking. The capacity to use mathematics critically is essential for making prudent decisions and forming balanced judgements about economic, health, environmental and other challenges facing society. Developing Critical Mathematical Thinking (CMT) in the classroom provides students with the necessary skills to address complex real-world problems. Fostering CMT, however, is difficult and teaching practices around its development are under-researched and under-theorised. This study aims to generate new insight into teaching practices that can promote or inhibit students' CMT development. To address this aim, we use an innovative video-based methodology that integrates researcher and teacher perspectives on students' CMT development.Read moreRead less
Reasonable Adjustments to Maths for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. Reasonable adjustments to secondary mathematics – parents want it, students need it, the Australian law requires it – but how do teachers achieve it? The aim of this project is to find ways to adjust, teach and assess secondary mathematics for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The significance of this study is in solving a problem facing teachers who are required by law to teach mathematics with ....Reasonable Adjustments to Maths for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. Reasonable adjustments to secondary mathematics – parents want it, students need it, the Australian law requires it – but how do teachers achieve it? The aim of this project is to find ways to adjust, teach and assess secondary mathematics for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The significance of this study is in solving a problem facing teachers who are required by law to teach mathematics without evidence informed approaches. Expected outcomes are an evidence-base for reasonable adjustments to secondary mathematics and approaches and strategies for teachers for inclusive practices. If ways for teaching year-level mathematics to learners with intellectual disability are developed, many more students may benefit.
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Investigating the relationship between teacher expectations, student persistence and the learning of mathematics. There is a culture in many classrooms in which teachers are encouraged by students to pose easy tasks. The project will explore what is needed to encourage students to embrace challenges and to persist even when tasks are difficult. The outcome will be enhanced mathematics learning and improved student confidence.
Enhancing proportional reasoning, a fundamental but elusive cornerstone of numeracy, through educational technology applications. This project targets numeracy; a national education priority and global measure of education quality. This project will fill an identified research gap about the specific mathematics content to support rich numeracy practices, thus enhancing the professional capacity of teachers of all disciplines to attain this national goal. High numeracy increases work and life cho ....Enhancing proportional reasoning, a fundamental but elusive cornerstone of numeracy, through educational technology applications. This project targets numeracy; a national education priority and global measure of education quality. This project will fill an identified research gap about the specific mathematics content to support rich numeracy practices, thus enhancing the professional capacity of teachers of all disciplines to attain this national goal. High numeracy increases work and life choices, strengthening the social and economic fabric and global competitiveness of Australian society. High numeracy supports access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics; areas in which current enrolments are in decline. This project will define the essence of numeracy for the 21st century, support evidence-based policy decisions and influence classroom practice.Read moreRead less
Engaging Students during the Early Years of Secondary School. This project aims to design, test and share sustainable strategies to support teachers and enable students from low socioeconomic communities to achieve success. The greatest decreases in students’ interest and effort occur when they transition into secondary school, with students from low socioeconomic communities at greatest risk of disengagement. What can teachers do to engage their students during this key life transition? This pr ....Engaging Students during the Early Years of Secondary School. This project aims to design, test and share sustainable strategies to support teachers and enable students from low socioeconomic communities to achieve success. The greatest decreases in students’ interest and effort occur when they transition into secondary school, with students from low socioeconomic communities at greatest risk of disengagement. What can teachers do to engage their students during this key life transition? This project plans to identify teacher behaviours that motivate students in their first year at secondary school. Using an experimental design with a representative sample of 150 teachers and 1500 students in low socioeconomic areas across three states, the project plans to test whether an online professional learning program for teachers can improve student engagement and achievement. This cost-effective and scalable intervention is designed for widespread dissemination to Australian teachers.Read moreRead less