Australian Curriculum

The objective of EDC141: The Numerate Educator was for students to obtain the chance to develop their mathematical skills, build mathematical competency, and positively chance their disposition (as a pre-service teacher) towards the importance and the functionality of maths. The key to success is to learn from one’s mistakes and work (by practicing mathematical questions) to further improve one’s results. This I managed to do by increasing my Mathspace results from 64% to 68% (as shown in Appendices 1A). The Australian Curriculum focuses on developing student’s capabilities in six areas: number, Algebra, Geometry, measurement, statistics and probability. Using evidence from the Mathspace test results, the NAPLAN results and activities of ‘What

The Case of Randy Harris describes the lesson of a middle school mathematics teacher, and how he uses diagrams, questions, and other methods to guide his students to a better understanding. Throughout his case study, Harris’ methods could be easily compared to that of the Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices. There are eight mathematical teaching practices that support student learning, most of which are performed throughout Randy Harris’ lesson. Harris didn’t perform each teaching practice perfectly, despite doing the majority of them throughout his lessons. The following are examples of how Randy Harris implemented the eight mathematical teaching practices into his lesson, and how the ones that were neglected should have been

Multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals are important aspects of mathematics required for a deep conceptual understanding. The following portfolio will discuss the key ideas of each and the strategies to enable positive teaching. It will highlight certain difficulties and misconceptions that children face and discuss resources and activities to help alleviate these. It will also acknowledge the connections between the areas of mathematics and discuss the need for succinct teaching instead of an isolated approach.

Through the Rational Number Interview I was able to gain insight into Adams mathematical understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages. As a student in year 5, Adam was able to make connections using various mathematical strategies. Adam has an understanding of infinite numbers, for example, when asked how many decimals are there between each rational number (0.1 and 0.11), he answered promptly with “many numbers”. Adam was able to acknowledge that a fraction can be shown as a division problem, “divide the pizza into fifths and each get 3 pieces”. He was able to calculate by partitioning the pizza, and by dividing each pizza into the amount of people (5). Adam shows residual thinking when building up to the whole

Curriculum is designed to develop successful learners. Confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens (MCEECDYA, 2008, p.13). In 2008, the Australian Government promised to deliver a fair and equitable curriculum for the national’s educational system, taking the task away from the State and Local Governments. The purpose of this was to create an even level of education throughout the country whether in Hobart of Cape York, and to ensure our nations position into the 21st century. This essay will demonstrate the Nation’s curriculum, its structure and development ready for its initial implementation in 2011.

The development of a national curriculum for Australia is not a new endeavour (Marsh, 2010). The ideal is that national curriculum across Australia would mean that students are provided with a quality education that helps to shape the lives of the nations citizens and continue developing the productivity and quality of life within Australia. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] have the task of developing and implementing a nationwide curriculum. ACARA (n.d.-c) claims have addressed needs of young Australians while considering that changing ways in learning and challenges will continue to shape students education in the future. A look at what the Australian Curriculum is, its purpose, structure and scope,

The aims and importance of learning provision for numeracy development are to ensure all students understand that maths is a vital part of everyday life and will continue to be used throughout their life. Primary schools will teach students to learn various methods and techniques to be able to reach the correct answer. The end goal means more students will be able to solve a mathematical problem, independently, using a method that suits them. They can then develop their learning to improve their knowledge and apply it to real life situations; such as counting in groups of numbers such as 5’s or 10’s, which in turn can be applied when paying for

The school worked on a year and a half form entry basis and so classes were generally small. During numeracy children were divided into three ability groups and each group was taught separately. My partner and I (Miss M) worked with the lower ability group. Ofsted (2009) noted that the ‘arrangements for teaching numeracy in smaller groups have had a dramatic effect on pupils' progress, improving mathematics from a relative weakness to one of the school's strengths.’ However, doing so may mean that children know that very little is expected from them. According to Cockburn (1999, p15) ‘if a child is labelled as not being able or lacking in confidence, it may not be very long before that child ceases to perform to the best of their abilities.’

The Australian Curriculum, through the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008), declares a national curriculum that is accessed by all students from diverse backgrounds. Its composition include three strands - learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities, providing teachers with flexibility to cater for student diversity and to personalise learning through curriculum adjustments, (ACARA, 2013, p. 5). The scenario of Malika and her class is an example of an activity meant to create cultural awareness but it is misconstrued and reinforced stereotypes, raised tension between students, or increased confusion.

Students struggle with everyday task involving numeracy, such as not knowing how much change they should receive when they purchase something. Teachers at the school, feel that the majority of the students have gaps in their understanding, which require them to send more than necessary time on simple concepts. Although, this helps students who are struggling it is not effective for students who are meeting the numeracy requirement for their year level. To overcome this hurdle, some mathematics teachers have adopted peer teaching technique. This technique involves choosing students, who are performing above the standard for their year level, and providing them with advance material for them to complete at home and giving the responsibility for teaching other students in small groups.

According to Blaise and Nuttall (2011, p.82), the curriculum is more than a complex official document. The Australian Curriculum can be understood when broken down into 5 key components. These components are intended curriculum, enacted curriculum, hidden curriculum, null curriculum and lived curriculum.

Learning about the long and tiresome process of transforming ordinary fractions into decimal fractions has made me realize how much I had taken for granted using calculator for the past decade. There are downsides to relying more on the calculator than relying on “old-fashioned” mind. “Patterns as Aids” becomes a problem when a student follows rules without understanding and calculates large numbers mentally using tricks but fails to understand the purpose of the processes or steps. Therefore it is better to understand less but thoroughly, than to be an expert in memorizing tricks and rules without any understanding. Principles must be taken apart, and each ingredient learned and taught individually. When something sounds hard or difficult, it usually means we did not break the problem into portions. Often I take for granted and overlooked simple aspects of math that I automatically perform. This book also mentions the importance of using word

In exploring the Australian Curriculum, it becomes apparent that this curriculum was developed to encompass a wide range of skills and abilities that will be needed to enable young Australians to become productive and successful members of society of the future. The influence of a range of different curriculum models and education theories has bought together a comprehensive overview of what the Australian education system will deliver and how this can be accomplished.

Learners may also have difficulty in understanding that a fraction of a group can be found when more than one object is represented, two fractions can be equivalent even with different denominators and that objects that are not the same shape can still be the same fraction. In terms of comparison students may have difficulty in comparing bigger fractions to smaller ones and in associating the size of the fraction to the size of the whole. Furthermore students may have difficulty is grasping all of the representations of fractions and the concept associated with fractions greater than one.

Teaching students effectively in areas of multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals requires teachers to have a true understanding of the concepts and best ways to develop students understanding. It is also vital that teachers understand the importance of conceptual understanding and the success this often provides for many students opposed to just being taught the procedures (Reys et al., ch. 12.1). It will be further looked at the important factors to remember when developing a solid conceptual understanding and connection to multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals.