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.
Equity and spatial reasoning in students’ mathematics development. The project aims to understand the influence of Spatial-Reasoning on school mathematics. Spatial-Reasoning skills are a significant predictor of achievement in mathematics, and will become increasingly necessary in digital and dynamic environments. Opportunities for disadvantaged students to develop such reasoning skills are limited; they are typically not taught in schools. The project investigates the role and nature of Spatial ....Equity and spatial reasoning in students’ mathematics development. The project aims to understand the influence of Spatial-Reasoning on school mathematics. Spatial-Reasoning skills are a significant predictor of achievement in mathematics, and will become increasingly necessary in digital and dynamic environments. Opportunities for disadvantaged students to develop such reasoning skills are limited; they are typically not taught in schools. The project investigates the role and nature of Spatial-Reasoning in students’ mathematics development; and substantiates the long-term effect of a spatial learning programme on educationally disadvantaged students’ mathematics performance and reasoning. This project is expected to improve disadvantaged students’ spatial reasoning and mathematics skills and their life opportunities.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
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
Processing mathematics tasks: the nature and role of visual and non-visual reasoning in digital and non-digital environments. Within the next four years, it is likely that the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be administered in a digital mode. This project identifies differences between the delivery of mathematics assessment in pencil-and-paper and computer-based modes. Primary students' mathematics reasoning is compared across these modes and to cohorts from Sing ....Processing mathematics tasks: the nature and role of visual and non-visual reasoning in digital and non-digital environments. Within the next four years, it is likely that the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be administered in a digital mode. This project identifies differences between the delivery of mathematics assessment in pencil-and-paper and computer-based modes. Primary students' mathematics reasoning is compared across these modes and to cohorts from Singapore.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