Auditing the Numeracy Demands of the Middle Years Curriculum

The National Numeracy Review Report recognized that numeracy development requires an across the curriculum commitment. To explore the nature of this commitment we conducted a numeracy audit of the South Australian Middle Years curriculum, using a numeracy model that incorporates mathematical knowledge, dispositions, tools, contexts, and a critical orientation. All learning areas in the published curriculum were found to have distinctive numeracy demands. The audit should encourage teachers to promote numeracy in even richer ways in the curriculum they enact with students

The challenge for non-first-language English academic publishing in English language research outlets

This paper is a reflective critique of practice within the field of mathematics education in relation to the challenges faced by non-first-language-English speaking academics when they attempt to publish in English language research outlets. Data for this study are drawn from communications between a German and an Australian academic as the Australian assisted the German in negotiating aspects of translation bound by syntactic, semiotic, cultural, and colloquial language considerations. The paper concludes by raising questions about the issue of the use of English as a universal language for the dissemination of new knowledge and offers possible solutions to the problem

Designing mathematical modelling tasks in a technology rich secondary school context

The potential of digital tools to enhance student learning is well researched, however, the potential of technology to promote students’ engagement with mathematical modelling tasks has received limited consideration. This paper draws on a research study that aimed to investigate the possibilities that exist for student learning when teachers from six secondary schools designed tasks that anticipated for the use of digital tools within mathematical modelling tasks. The paper describes and analyses the collaboration which took place in identifying principles of design for such tasks

Welcome to the era of vague news : A study of the demands of statistical and mathematical products in the COVID-19 pandemic media

In this article, we report on a typology of the demands of statistical and mathematical products (StaMPs) embedded in media items related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The typology emerged from a content analysis of a large purposive sample of diverse media items selected from digital news sources based in four countries. The findings encompass nine categories of StaMPs: (1) descriptive quantitative information, (2) models, predictions, causality and risk, (3) representations and displays, (4) data quality and strength of evidence, (5) demographics and comparative thinking, (6) heterogeneity and contextual factors, (7) literacy and language demands, (8) multiple information sources, and (9) critical demands. We illustrate these categories via selected media items, substantiate them through relevant research literature, and point to categories that encompass new or enhanced types of demands. Our findings offer insights into the rich set of capabilities that citizens (including both young people and adults) must possess in order to engage these mass media demands, critically analyze statistical and mathematical information in the media, evaluate the meaning and credibility of news reports, understand public policies, and make evidenced-informed judgments. Our conclusions point to the need to revise current curricular frameworks and conceptual models (e.g., regarding statistical and probability literacy, adult numeracy), to better incorporate notions such as blended knowledge, vagueness, risk, strength of evidence, and criticality. Furthermore, more attention is needed to the literacy and language demands of media items involving statistical and mathematical information. Implications for further research and educational practice are discussed

Conceptualising and enacting numeracy across the curriculum

Numeracy refers to the use of mathematics in non-mathematical contexts. In this paper two approaches to conceptualising numeracy across the whole school curriculum are identified: one based on interdisciplinary inquiry and the other on embedding numeracy into each school subject. The latter approach informed a systematic audit of resources available to Australian teachers for understanding and enacting numeracy across the curriculum. It was found that few resources addressed the need for teachers to recognise and take advantage of the numeracy learning demands and opportunities within the subjects they teach

Changing classroom practice through a rich model of numeracy across the curriculum

This paper reports on a research and development project that helped teachers to plan and implement numeracy strategies across the school curriculum. It presents a rich model of numeracy whose elements comprise mathematical knowledge, dispositions, tools, contexts, and a critical orientation to the use of mathematics. This model is then applied to analyse changes in one teacher’s planning, classroom practice, and personal conceptions of numeracy

The connections between citizenship education and mathematics education - Survey Paper

The connections between citizenship education and mathematics education have been the focus of theoretical development and attention by educators interested in issues of justice, equity, power, criticality, and citizen engagement with societal issues, across schools, universities, and adult education levels. In this survey article, we contribute to new knowledge in the field by identifying and describing three interconnected layers of influence on the praxis of teaching and learning: (1) perspectives from citizenship education and mathematics education (e.g., kinds of citizenship, critical thinking in mathematics education); (2) institutional factors (e.g., policy, curricula, implementation within education systems); and (3) emerging influences (e.g., changing skill demands, innovations from communities of practice). In exploring the connections between citizenship education and mathematics education, we go beyond extant theory development and point to influences such as global disruptions, societal changes, systemic structures at the national and local levels, messaging in the media, and the role of teachers and learners. The holistic analysis of these influences enables identification of tensions and dilemmas, and issues of identity, autonomy, adoption, and systemic change. Together these point to multiple implications for educators, policy makers, and researchers aiming to enable informed and engaged citizens

Devising principles of design for numeracy tasks

Numeracy is a fundamental component of the Australian National Curriculum as a General Capability identified in each F-10 subject. In this paper, we consider the principles of design necessary for the development of numeracy tasks specific to subjects other than mathematics – in this case, the subject of English. We explore the nature of potential design principles by synthesising generic principles of task design from relevant literature, mapping these principles against an episode of classroom practice sourced from a project concerned with enhancing teaching in numeracy, and interrogating this mapping for elements of design that are complementary to aspects identified in the generic principles

Mathematics education in the margins: Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia

Proceedings of the 38th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) held on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland in 2015