Strategies to Support PGCE Mathematics and Science Students Preparing for Assignments at Masters Level

The main aim of this study was to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of support strategies being put into place for students who need to write assignments at Masters Level. In preparation for writing a 5000 word assignment on an aspect of teaching Mathematics or Science, 57 Science and Mathematics PGCE students were asked to write a 500 word synopsis which included an introduction, description of the main focus, questions that the assignment would address and possible strategies for teaching and learning. A strategy not reported previously in this context was the use of peer assessment of the synopsis. Each synopsis was reviewed by two students and discussed in professional learning conversations. The assessments by students were used as feedback along with the University subject tutor’s assessment of the synopsis. Data were collected from questionnaires and interviews to explore the perceived effectiveness of the peer assessment exercise and other support strategies. Findings were analysed to consider how support for future groups might be developed

A collaborative action research project to support Mathematics and Science PGCE students with Masters level writing

Since 2005, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England and Wales have been awarded at Masters level which requires students to be able to write reflectively in an academic style in the discipline of Social Science. We have found that the majority of Mathematics and Science PGCE students rarely experience this style of academic writing in their undergraduate studies. This can put them at a disadvantage compared to other students. The project reported in this paper set out to develop the skill of academic writing of Mathematics and Science PGCE students. The first part of this collaborative study focused on peer-assessment of a synopsis for the second assignment with an emphasis on learning conversations. The effectiveness of this teaching strategy and other forms of support such as formative feedback of the first assignment and discussing exemplar assignments were analysed. The survey responses and questionnaires revealed that the students valued the forms of support offered. A small percentage of students, however, reported that they found the peer assessments less helpful and preferred more tutor feedback. This appears to indicate that students would benefit from developing better skills for self-assessment and peer-assessment to make learning conversations more productive

Which qualities did aspiring teachers value in their ‘best’ mathematics teachers?

When aspiring mathematics teachers were asked to describe one of their own mathematics teachers who had made an impact on them it was found that personal attributes such as empathy, caring and commitment to their students were mentioned most often. This study uses Gossman’s categories of ‘teacher as teacher’ and ‘teacher as person’ to analyse the descriptions of best teachers given by people who were being interviewed for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education in Secondary Mathematics at our Institution. The aim of this study is to add to the growing body of literature which indicates the value of teachers’ personal attributes and how important these can be for student motivation and confidence in mathematics. These attributes are hardly mentioned in lists of teacher competencies compiled as part of Government standards for teachers. We expected that aspiring mathematics teachers, since they are most likely to have been successful at mathematics themselves, would feel positively about mathematics and their mathematics teachers. However a surprising finding from the data was that even successful students occasionally experienced disaffection

Tasks that support the development of geometric reasoning at KS3

Students at Key Stage 3 (ie aged 11-14) in English schools are expected to learn the definitions of the properties of triangles, quadrilaterals and other polygons and to be able to use these definitions to solve problems (including being able to explain and justify their solutions). This paper focuses on a pair of Year 8 students (aged 12-13) working on a task using dynamic geomtry software. In the research, the children investigated triangles and quadrilaterals by dragging two lines within a shape (ie the diagonals of a quadrilateral, or base and height of a triangle) and noting the position and orientation of the lines which gave rise to specific shapes. Following this, the students were asked to use what they had found in order to construct specific triangles and quadrilaterals when starting with a blank screen. While the research is currently ongoing, and is using a design research methodology, the evidence to date is that the task has the potential to scaffold students’ thinking around the properties of 2D shapes and hence support the development of geometric reasoning