EDMA217 - Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment in Mathematics Education 1

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

In order to plan and deliver lessons that promote learner engagement and enhance student learning, intending secondary teachers need knowledge and understanding of the senior secondary curriculum, along with theoretical frameworks and pedagogical approaches that are emblematic of teaching in their chosen teaching areas, including teaching/learning that responds to the high-stakes assessment that is a usual feature of junior secondary schooling.

In this unit, pre-service teachers will consider the place of Mathematics Education in contemporary Australian society, and the junior secondary Mathematics Education curriculum, in particular. They will explore a range of evidence-based approaches for curriculum development and alignment and plan for effective teaching and learning, including formative and summative assessment. Pre-service teachers will learn approaches for building knowledge of Mathematics Education and how to provide constructive feedback and reporting. They will learn approaches for engaging junior secondary learners and to meet the learning needs of diverse students in the junior secondary years. They will further develop skills to shape the dialogic talk of the classroom. Pre-service teachers will formulate unit and assessment plans in order to demonstrate a knowledge of curriculum, learning and assessment theory. They will assemble a resource folio to demonstrate the capacity to collect, create and critique resources for effective teaching and learning and to link with the curriculum. They will investigate issues and considerations of curriculum implementation as found in the practical reality of schools.

The aim of this unit is for the pre-service teacher to develop their pedagogical content knowledge through becoming familiar with the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary for teaching Mathematics Education at a junior secondary level.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Plan, implement and evaluate a range of learning and teaching activities for junior secondary students as part of a cohesive unit of work that involve a variety of pedagogical approaches and resources (including ICT) appropriate to these year levels and curriculum content (GA4, GA5, GA9, GA10)

LO2 - Explain, develop and evaluate a variety of classroom strategies that cater for individual differences in student learning (e.g. cognitive, physical, social, cultural), the role language plays in the learning and teaching of mathematics and integrate general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities (including ICT) in Mathematics Education (GA4, GA5, GA9)

LO3 - Examine the relationships between student learning and expertise, higher-order thinking, learning task design, assessment, feedback and reporting in mathematics (GA4, GA5, GA9).

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• factors in the educational context (international, national, state, territory and local levels) including curriculum policies and perspectives that shape the identity of mathematics relevant to Years 7-10.
• specific professional practices related to teaching and learning in Mathematics Education planning sequences of learning activities in mathematics relative to specific school context and identified factors impacting teaching and learning
• general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities including the integration of literacy, numeracy and ICT and local, state, territory and national perspectives in Mathematics Education
• the relationship between reflexive learning and effective concept formation to build higher-order thinking in Mathematics Education  
• catering for a diverse range of learners in mathematics, including learners having English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D)
• effective use of resources for teaching mathematics, including ICT’s and technologies specific to mathematics including hand-held technologies, concrete materials and visual approaches across the content areas
• pedagogical strategies to promote problem posing, problem solving, mathematical modelling, reasoning and proof in Mathematics Education
• feedback, assessment and reporting in Mathematics Education  
• extending and challenging all learners in Mathematics Education

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit applies a social constructivist approach to develop the pre-service teacher’s understanding of effective pedagogies through active engagement and collaborative learning. The pre-service teacher will build an understanding of teaching strategies through critical reading, lecturer modelling, discussion, and practice in tutorials. The pre-service teacher’s skills of professional communication and ability to work collaboratively will be practised through group work. The pre-service teacher’s teaching skills of planning and assessing, and his/her ability to locate and synthesise information, will be developed through designing a curriculum appropriate for a Mathematics Education context. The pre-service teacher will continue to gather and reflect upon evidence of attainment of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Graduate.

The teaching and learning strategy described above will use an appropriate selection of approach, including, for example:

• Weekly face-to-face lectures and/or online lectures (synchronous and asynchronous)
• Hands-on tutorials and discussions that promote peer learning
• Microteaching opportunities
• Self-directed reading and research
• Collaborative learning opportunities

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment tasks and their weightings are designed so that the pre-service teacher can progressively achieve the course learning outcomes and the professional standards. The Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment units in this course focus on pre-service teachers acquiring content knowledge and developing the skills to assimilate conceptual knowledge in order for that knowledge to inform skills that will be applied in practice.

The two assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development. By completing Task 1 the pre-service teacher will apply knowledge of assessment strategies. In Task 2 pre-service teachers develop a program of work for junior secondary students over a period of time.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Goos, M., Stillman, G., & Vale, C. (2007). Teaching secondary school mathematics: Research and practice for the 21st century. Allen & Unwin.

OR

Goos, M., Vale, C., & Stillman, G. (2017). Teaching secondary school mathematics: Research and practice for the 21st century (2nd ed.). Allen & Unwin.  [Has been sold to Routledge]

Nelson, D. (Ed.). (2008). Penguin dictionary of mathematics (4th ed.). Penguin.

VCAA (n.d.). Victorian Curriculum F - 10: Mathematics. Melbourne, Vic: VCAA. Available victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au NOTE: PLEASE download the version by selecting: Mathematics; Levels: 6-10A; Elements: All.