This subject introduces students to the discipline of mathematics, its nature, history, philosophy and place in education, and assists students to reflect on the processes of mathematics learning specifically to engage with, explore and explicate ideas about mathematics pedagogy, curriculum and the assessment of children's acquisition of mathematical concepts. The focus of this subject will be the Years 7 - 12 mathematics curriculum and in particular the development of content from the Number and Algebra strand, although it explores the primary/secondary school transition and the relationship between mathematics, numeracy and literacy in the mathematics classroom and in the wider curriculum.
The subject has been designed so that preservice teachers can acquire the knowledge and skills to meet many of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership National Professional Standards for Teachers; in particular, standards 2.1,2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6 and 4.1. It has also been designed to provide preservice mathematics teachers with the capacity to meet the aims of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.
EMM441 and EMM442 have been designed so that students gradually build their knowledge and skills across the two subjects. Together, they cover the three content strands of the National Mathematics Curriculum and the NSW Mathematics syllabi. Students learn about teaching and assessment strategies within the classroom, with a focus on the major mathematical concepts within the curriculum documents. They are then required to reflect on broader concerns such as numeracy, mathematics across the curriculum and social and cultural issues in mathematics education. The subjects move sequentially from the design of single learning activities, lessons and lesson sequences through to unit plans.
The successful completion of EMM441 will require students to read and reflect upon several readings each week, including research articles and professional teaching materials. These resources have been selected to ensure that students engage with the content of mathematics as well as major issues in the teaching and learning of mathematics. In addition to the readings, students will be provided with regular audio-lectures and other resources by the Subject Co-ordinator. The lectures will discuss the major ideas in the readings and students will be asked to provide input on the subject online forum.
The subject has been developed in modules, each with accompanying assessment tasks. The assessment items have been designed to be authentic tasks that mirror the teaching and learning activities of mathematics teachers.
In summary, students learning in this subject is designed to provide them with teaching and learning activities that will allow them to cover the content of the subject in 140 hours, including reading, note taking, forum participation, written reflection and assessment preparation.