Any Internet search will reveal a myriad of articles and blogs on this topic. The variety of comment is not surprising since formal education of some kind affects every family and every individual in almost every country. Informal... more
Any Internet search will reveal a myriad of articles and blogs on this topic. The variety of comment is not surprising since formal education of some kind affects every family and every individual in almost every country. Informal education has probably effected just about everyone since humans evolved. What the online material does show is that while the process is universal, the objectives are diverse and often in conflict. Indeed much of the discussion seems to be at cross purposes. I have been a teacher, mostly to young adults, for 35 years in seven countries with quite different cultures, so I am deeply familiar with the currents of intention and counter-intention which touch everyone in the enterprise of education. My own doctoral dissertation was an analysis of 20 case studies in institutions where the publicly expressed purposes of education were often sabotaged. Although I have seen some of the failures, the institutional reasons for such failures are so embedded and so internationally widespread that I can see little direct hope for major changes. What I do see is that for technological and cultural reasons, the relationships between public mass education and personal self-education are changing drastically. The outcomes of that melding are still unclear, but the process offers hope.
This book provides an account of a large-scale, national STEM initiative in Australia, the Maths Inside Project, which is designed to increase secondary school students’ engagement and participation in mathematics. The project’s modules... more
This book provides an account of a large-scale, national STEM initiative in Australia, the Maths Inside Project, which is designed to increase secondary school students’ engagement and participation in mathematics. The project’s modules include videos illustrating how scientists use mathematics to find solutions to real-world problems, as well as themed activities linked to the school curriculum for mathematics. Outlining the current debates concerning mathematics education in Australia and beyond, the book describes the development and implementation of the modules to guide their use by teachers in year 8-12 Australian mathematics classrooms. It concludes with a discussion of the research, showing how the project increased student engagement. The book discusses the partners involved in the project, including scientists, a national mathematics teachers’ association and the authors’ university. It also offers insights into how to embark on pedagogical improvement through collaboration between individual institutional stakeholders. Providing details of the modules to enable teachers and teacher educators to help their students better understand and utilise the curriculum resources of Maths Inside, the book is a useful resource for educators around the globe wanting to make mathematics engaging, topical and relevant for secondary school students.
This is a ‘professional’ thesis written in light of Donald Schön reflective practitioner model. It investigates the outcomes arising from a change in delivery model around mathematics teaching in a very small rural school. I conclude that... more
This is a ‘professional’ thesis written in light of Donald Schön reflective practitioner model. It investigates the outcomes arising from a change in delivery model around mathematics teaching in a very small rural school. I conclude that Schön’s reflection on reflection-in-practice template is an effective methodology for combining my current professional knowledge with new academic thinking. I conclude that Mathletics is a useful way to deliver content to a multi-age classroom however teacher support must amount to more than procedural fixes if student misunderstandings around mathematics are
to be avoided in the future.
Estimation and mental computation abilities can be viewed as a key to transforming the teaching and learning of Mathematics in Malaysia and towards a more dynamic Mathematics education especially because both abilities are needed in order... more
Estimation and mental computation abilities can be viewed as a key to transforming the teaching and learning of Mathematics in Malaysia and towards a more dynamic Mathematics education especially because both abilities are needed in order to develop good numeracy thinking. The purpose of this paper is to determine students’ level of numeracy and the problematic questions faced by students in the Numeracy Test. The sample consisted of 414 students in Form 1, Form 2 and Form 4 from six secondary schools located in a district in Malaysia. This is a descriptive correlation study using stratified random sampling. The findings show that the students were weak in numeracy. Is this normal? The finding of students’ common weaknesses and strengths may serve a good reference for the curriculum refinement and may relate to 21st century skills in learning Mathematics.
This study was conducted on year 4 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program for Cycle one teacher candidates. The effect of practicing mental calculation strategies in improving students' numeracy proficiency was put under... more
This study was conducted on year 4 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program for Cycle one teacher candidates. The effect of practicing mental calculation strategies in improving students' numeracy proficiency was put under some tests to measure its effect in a scientific way. A Pre-quiz was conducted before with no prior practice done in order to check the strategies the students were using in performing calculations. After four weeks practice and implementation which focused mainly on addition and subtraction questions, as a result a post quiz was written by the students. The improvement results were recorded and analyzed. After four weeks of practicing multiplication and division questions, another post quiz was written by the students as a result of that. Once again, the improvement results also were recorded and analyzed. Furthermore, interviews and observations also were used to record changes in the students' perspectives about using the mental strategies and their feelings toward their numeracy level. The results of the study showed that practicing the mental strategies had a significant impact on the students' numeracy proficiency and their perspective toward their mental strategies. The study also showed that more practice had a significant impact on the students' confidence as well as their ability to perform different mental strategies in their daily life.
My latest publication offers readers the opportunity to look at the independent, international standard, blind peer reviewed, best practice research that states a literacy or numeracy program does – or arguably and more importantly does... more
My latest publication offers readers the opportunity to look at the independent, international standard, blind peer reviewed, best practice research that states a literacy or numeracy program does – or arguably and more importantly does not - make a measurable difference to student learning. If the research shows the program makes a difference, it is clearly worth the investment. If there is no research to prove the product makes a difference, why would you buy it? And often, also purchase the training that accompanies the product? I argue that Australia is experiencing a rise of those that Eacott (Twitter, 2018) refers to as “edu-preneurs / social media celebrity educators / commercial companies”. In times of economic rationalisms, neo-liberal policies, decreasing education standards and decreasing funding, can we really defend the enormous amount of money being spent on literacy and numeracy programs, “approaches”, “behaviour management programs” and “wellbeing programs” where the purchases line the pockets of “edu-preneurs / social media celebrity educators / commercial companies” who cannot present research that proves the literacy and numeracy programs, “approaches”, “behaviour management programs” and “wellbeing programs” actually work and make a difference to students? Feel free to co-contribute to the draft document.
Literacy and numeracy skills are critical in the workplace and yet little is known in Australia about the extent of numeracy training required within a workplace. This study begins to redress this by investigating the qualifications,... more
Literacy and numeracy skills are critical in the workplace and yet little is known in Australia about the extent of numeracy training required within a workplace. This study begins to redress this by investigating the qualifications, experience, and numeracy skills of language, literacy and numeracy specialists and vocational specialists—referred to collectively in this study as vocational education and training (VET) practitioners—working in the process manufacturing industry. A degree of mismatch is found between the skill required to address numeracy needs in the process manufacturing industries and the current capacity of VET practitioners in terms of their understanding of numeracy requirements, their qualifications, skills and experience.
