Secondary and university mathematics: do they speak the same language? This project seeks innovative reasons for low progression rates of students in mathematical sciences subjects in Australia. It will examine students' symbol use at university and explore how it differs from the use at school. It will also examine links between students' response to increased symbolic load and their confidence to continue studying subjects with high mathematical content at university. Theoretical outcomes are ....Secondary and university mathematics: do they speak the same language? This project seeks innovative reasons for low progression rates of students in mathematical sciences subjects in Australia. It will examine students' symbol use at university and explore how it differs from the use at school. It will also examine links between students' response to increased symbolic load and their confidence to continue studying subjects with high mathematical content at university. Theoretical outcomes are expected to include new applications of epistemology and didactics theories and identification of key components of symbol load (for example, symbolic density, symbol familiarity) to describe how mathematical practices change with educational level. Practical outcomes are expected to include advice for educators with examples across the mathematical sciences.Read moreRead less
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.
Collaborative learning in Australia and China. This project aims to investigate aspects of learning for which “the social” is the most fundamental and useful level of explanation, modelling and instructional intervention. Interactive problem solving and learning are priorities in contemporary education, but have proven difficult to research. This project will use Australian and Chinese research facilities to investigate social interactions and classroom learning by strategically orchestrating co ....Collaborative learning in Australia and China. This project aims to investigate aspects of learning for which “the social” is the most fundamental and useful level of explanation, modelling and instructional intervention. Interactive problem solving and learning are priorities in contemporary education, but have proven difficult to research. This project will use Australian and Chinese research facilities to investigate social interactions and classroom learning by strategically orchestrating conditions for collaborative problem solving and knowledge construction by mathematics students in two very different cultures and pedagogical traditions. Outcomes from this project are expected to identify and optimise the function of social interaction in learning.Read moreRead less
The Lexicon Project: Analysing pedagogical naming systems from different cultures to reconceptualise classroom practice and advance educational theory. Classrooms remain the principal site of institutionalised learning. Their cultural specificity poses challenges for international comparative research. New approaches are needed. Internationally, our educational theories, research and descriptions of practice are framed in English, which names some aspects of the classroom, but ignores key aspect ....The Lexicon Project: Analysing pedagogical naming systems from different cultures to reconceptualise classroom practice and advance educational theory. Classrooms remain the principal site of institutionalised learning. Their cultural specificity poses challenges for international comparative research. New approaches are needed. Internationally, our educational theories, research and descriptions of practice are framed in English, which names some aspects of the classroom, but ignores key aspects named in other languages. This limits our capacity to access, connect and adapt the wisdom of other cultures. The Lexicon Project will initiate cross-cultural dialogue to identify pedagogical terms from selected Asian and European educational communities and use these as analytical tools to categorise, interrogate and enrich our classroom practice, classroom research, and educational theorising.Read moreRead less
Enhancing numeracy learning and teaching across the curriculum. Leaving school without an adequate level of numeracy has devastating consequences for young people's life chances. This project will implement a rich approach to numeracy across the curriculum in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 with the aim of improving students' numeracy learning outcomes and teachers' confidence with and understanding of numeracy.