Description:
In the 1990s, two major issues emerged globally for tertiary mathematics educators: declining standards in the mathematical proficiency of students at tertiary-entry level and the advocates for the incorporation of IT into the processes of teaching and learning. Addressing these issues required significant reform of both curriculum content and classroom practice to ensure that the technology was used appropriately and effectively. These reforms were largely implemented by staff from tertiary Schools of Mathematics. Rather than leading the reform, the Education community lagged behind and in some instances has taken research into the use of IT in Mathematics Education in a questionable direction. In this paper, we outline what we contend has been a failure on the behalf of the Education community to tackle and address problems experienced by mathematics educators (particularly at the tertiary level) and make some suggestions for the directions of future research in Mathematics Education.
Description:
In the 1990s, two major issues emerged globally for tertiary mathematics educators: declining standards in the mathematical proficiency of students at tertiary-entry level and the advocates for the incorporation of IT into the processes of teaching and learning. Addressing these issues required significant reform of both curriculum content and classroom practice to ensure that the technology was used appropriately and effectively. These reforms were largely implemented by staff from tertiary Schools of Mathematics. Rather than leading the reform, the Education community lagged behind and in some instances has taken research into the use of IT in Mathematics Education in a questionable direction. In this paper, we outline what we contend has been a failure on the behalf of the Education community to tackle and address problems experienced by mathematics educators (particularly at the tertiary level) and make some suggestions for the directions of future research in Mathematics Education.
Description:
An age characterised by the sort of 'manufactured uncertainty' identified by Giddens (1994) throws up for scrutiny any number of taken-for-granted assumptions regarding professional practice experience in the Education field. This paper explores the suggestive possibilities of discourses of pre-service teacher practica in terms of naming, positioning and examination of taken-for-granted aspects of teacher education as they present at a regional university in Victoria, Australia. The University of Ballarat has introduced a new P-10 teacher education course. In the second year of its progress, traditional aspects of paid supervisory and assessment roles of practising teachers in relation to student teachers have been the focus of attention and activity based on reconfigured foci on the roles of both practising teachers and undergraduate students. One such focus is on what Schön (1987) describes as 'indeterminate zones of practice', and the result has been a research program exploring those zones in terms of mentorship in relation to mandated supervision and assessment requirements for graduate registration. The project is action-research based, with teacher, student, academic and semi-academic/teacher roles considered in the light of suggestive possibilities of mentorship and reflective practices as transformative possibilities in relation to roles associated with these.
Description:
Will this material be on the exam? Why do I need to know this stuff? These are the sorts of questions that have been regularly asked by our mathematics students. Pre-service mathematics teachers often suggest that they do not need to learn anything that they do not have to teach. Generally, these students appear to have very little aesthetic appreciation for mathematics and its applications. Currently, we teach five traditional mathematical content units that are provided mainly for pre-service mathematics teachers. These units have been adapted and modified over the years from units that were designed primarily for science students. They contained a heavy focus on calculus with a limited breadth of mathematical experience. After consulting widely on the best mathematical practices throughout Australia and internationally, it was decided to reform all of the mathematics units to make them more attractive to a wider audience. The units that are currently being developed are: Profit, Loss and Gambling; Upon the Shoulders of Giants; Logic and Imagination; Modelling and Change; Algorithms, Bits and Bytes; Space, Shape, and Design; and Modelling Reality. The overall goal of this redevelopment is to improve student attitudes and motivation by exposing them to a wide range of topics in mathematics that are usable and relevant. All of these units will incorporate current technology, contain realistic problems, and include visiting speakers. Student assessment in these units will consist of portfolios, projects and examinations. The introduction of these new units will result in students having a greater choice of the units they wish to study. In order to overcome potential logistical problems of a small mathematics department, innovative changes to the structure of the units will also be examined. This paper will provide the details of the establishment and content of these units.
Description:
Will this material be on the exam? Why do I need to know this stuff? These are the sorts of questions that have been regularly asked by our mathematics students. Pre-service mathematics teachers often suggest that they do not need to learn anything that they do not have to teach. Generally, these students appear to have very little aesthetic appreciation for mathematics and its applications. Currently, we teach five traditional mathematical content units that are provided mainly for pre-service mathematics teachers. These units have been adapted and modified over the years from units that were designed primarily for science students. They contained a heavy focus on calculus with a limited breadth of mathematical experience. After consulting widely on the best mathematical practices throughout Australia and internationally, it was decided to reform all of the mathematics units to make them more attractive to a wider audience. The units that are currently being developed are: Profit, Loss and Gambling; Upon the Shoulders of Giants; Logic and Imagination; Modelling and Change; Algorithms, Bits and Bytes; Space, Shape, and Design; and Modelling Reality. The overall goal of this redevelopment is to improve student attitudes and motivation by exposing them to a wide range of topics in mathematics that are usable and relevant. All of these units will incorporate current technology, contain realistic problems, and include visiting speakers. Student assessment in these units will consist of portfolios, projects and examinations. The introduction of these new units will result in students having a greater choice of the units they wish to study. In order to overcome potential logistical problems of a small mathematics department, innovative changes to the structure of the units will also be examined. This paper will provide the details of the establishment and content of these units.