Course Title: Extending Investigations with Numeracy

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Extending Investigations with Numeracy

Credit Points: 12

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
TCHE2118	Bundoora Campus	Undergraduate	360H Education	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 2 2010

Course Coordinator: Prof Dianne Siemon

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 7916

Course Coordinator Email:dianne.siemon@rmit.edu.au

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Satisfactory completion of TCHE2117 Understanding Numeracies (desirable but not necessary)

Course Description

Children’s experience of the study of mathematics in the primary years should be engaging, stimulating and challenging. Mathematics classrooms need to be places where children are actively engaged in solving real problems and using mathematics in situations relevant to their lives. The study of mathematics must provide students with a deep understanding of the necessary concepts, skills and strategies to provide a stable platform for the continued and future study of mathematics. However, it should also be an avenue for capturing students’ interest in mathematics as an invigorating and exciting field of study.
In order to provide a rich and exciting program of study for students in the primary years of schooling, teachers need to know the key concepts, skills and strategies that form the structure of mathematics in the primary years. They also need to know how to foster understanding, connections and generalisations through the creation of a classroom culture conducive to inquiry and discussion, the selection of content based on an understanding of learning needs, and the appropriate use of materials, models and representations. This course builds on the Understanding Numeracies course with a specific focus on extending children’s number knowledge and confidence from the early years. In this course, pre-service teachers will be involved in activities that examine key number concepts, skills and strategies and teaching methods that connect mathematics in real world situations to concrete models and symbolic representations. The role of language will be studied as the linkage between these three aspects. This course will stress the importance of providing rich learning experiences for children to promote discussion and the development of mathematical problem solving and thinking skills necessary for a technological age.
Through this course, pre-service teachers will have an opportunity to explore current issues in mathematics education, including assessment and reporting; problem-solving and integrated curriculum settings; teaching and learning mathematics for understanding; gender and mathematics; and the use of electronic technology, calculators and mathematical games in the context of local, state and national curriculum and policy documents for school mathematics and numeracy.
An additional mathematics course is offered as part of the Middle Years elective program in third and fourth year. This course will focus on the learning needs and teaching strategies relevant to upper primary and lower secondary students.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Capabilities (source Graduate Capabilities for the B.Ed)
Employ reasoning through reframing practice (3.4)
Actively listen and participate in ‘learning conversations’ (5.4)
Demonstrate a critical understanding of professional practices (7.2)
Identify and locate knowledge resources/support selectively (11.4)

As a result of completing this course it is expected that students will be able to demonstrate:
* a belief in the importance of rich conceptual mathematics knowledge as the foundation for numeracy development and further mathematics study;
* a keenness to improve their pedagogical content knowledge and skills in relation to mathematics, and a positive and confident attitude towards the teaching of mathematics;
* a broad understanding of mathematics curricula in terms of the major concepts, representations and processes associated with the development and everyday use of particular mathematical ideas;
* an awareness of the importance of creating a rich mathematical learning environment to promote the negotiation of meaning and the development of children’s problem solving and thinking skills;
* a knowledge of effective mathematics teaching and learning strategies drawn from readings, public policy documents concerned with mathematics and numeracy, and observation and participation in primary school settings;
* a capacity to identify, plan, justify, implement, evaluate and reflect upon effective activities and learning sequences for primary school mathematics;
* a knowledge of children’s learning of mathematics, particularly in relation to number, and a capacity to observe, interpret and respond appropriately to children’s mathematical behaviour; and
* an ability to effectively use Information Communication Technology, identify and use appropriate resources and communicate in both written and oral forms in a scholarly and academically appropriate manner.

Overview of Learning Activities

Students are expected to attend all classes, read the prescribed text as indicated, actively seek additional resources and participate in class and/or school-based activities, take notes, complete worksheets, engage in peer group discussions, critically reflect on their experiences in relation to this course, and complete assessment tasks in accordance with the published guidelines.

Overview of Learning Resources

Students will need access to the prescribed text and relevant support material published by the relevant curriculum authorities as well as a variety of other texts and resources commonly used in Victorian schools. Students are expected to be able to access relevant information via the web, for example, curriculum and policy documents, relevant resources, and related research literature. 

Overview of Assessment

Students will demonstrate their learning through their active participation in class discussions and activities and by satisfactorily completing the assessment tasks described in Part B. In general, this will involve an exploration of childrens’ mathematics learning, the documentation of a range of teaching resources, and a short test on key number ideas and concepts.