Numeracy: Connecting Mathematics

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 2014

2020

The purpose of this chapter is to develop an inclusive and coherent discussion about research developments within numeracy while, at the same time, highlighting the contributions of its different facets. These facets include two broad contexts in which numeracy development and practices take place, schooling/initial teacher education and the workplace, and two centred on specific areas of mathematical content, statistical and financial literacy. Research in this review is analysed through the dimensions of the Model of Numeracy for the 21st Century—contexts, mathematical knowledge, tools, dispositions and critical orientation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of potential new directions for numeracy research.

2021

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Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2020

In this short paper, we describe issues resulting from a lack of clarity in understanding the nomenclature of numeracy in mathematics education at the school level and consider some of the underlying foundational structures of mathematical thinking. The purpose of the paper is to open a conversation about shifting the focus from the narrower conceptual boundaries concerning numeracy by considering theoretical perspectives that describe mathematical thinking as a form of intelligence on the one hand, and as a skill within the paradigm of 21 st century skills, on the other. We identify a number of questions to be considered in teaching mathematics and specifically in contexts where digital technology is utilised.

2010

Australian Mathematics Teacher, 2012

I teach at Mount Gambier High School, located in a large regional centre (population 24 000). The main industries of the region are forestry, fishing, dairying and agriculture, but there is a growing emphasis on clean energy production (geothermal, wind energy etc). The high school was founded in 1908, and currently has over 1000 students in Years 8 to 12. The size of the school is seen as an advantage in giving it the ability to offer a wide range of subjects and extra-curricular activities and the school has a strong reputation in the local community for providing students with an excellent education. Staff turnover is low, around 10Ð 1 3% (mainly due to retirements in recent years). Students mainly come from blue collar families and there is little cultural diversity in the school. Because of the fairly stable regional industry base, many are enrolled in VET courses through the school. (Only about half of Year 12 students are eligible for a Tertiary Entrance Rank.) The University of South Australia has a campus in the city, offering Nursing, Social Work and other programs, but most school leavers who aspire to tertiary education are thought to move to Adelaide and Melbourne for their studies. The school promotes the ñ Student Voiceî via the Student Representative Council (SRC) and student input is actively sought in decisions that affect the school. For example, students designed and helped build a courtyard and created sculptures and murals that decorate the grounds. They have a strong sense of ownership of the school and there is little if any vandalism evident. Parents are also very much involved in the school, as many were students here themselves.

2000

The second volume of the 24th annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education contains full research report papers. Papers include: (1) "What you see is what you get: The influence of visualization on the perception of data structures" (Dan Aharoni); (2) "Exploring the transparency of graphs and graphing" (Janet Ainley); (3) "Describing primary mathematics lessons observed in the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme: A qualitative framework" (Mike Askew, Margaret Brown, Hazel Denvir, and Valerie Rhodes); (4) "An analysis of bracket expansion errors" (Paul Ayres); (5) "Knowing the sample space or not: The effects on decision making" (Paul Ayres and Jenni Way); ( ) "The development of mathematics education based on ethnomathematics (2): Analysis of Universal Activities in terms of verbs" (Takuya Baba and Hideki Iwasaki); (7) "Maths as social and explanations for 'underachievement' in numeracy" (David A. Baker and B.V. Street); (8) "Year 6 students' idiosyncratic notions of unitising, reunitising, and regrouping decimal number places" (Annette R. Baturo and Tom J. Cooper); (9) "Factors influencing teachers' endorsement of the core mathematics course of an integrated learning system" (Annette R. Baturo, Tom J. Cooper, Gillian C. Kidman, and Campbell J. McRobbie); ( ) "Students' conceptions of the integral" (Jan Bezuidenhout and Alwyn Olivier); (11) "The use of mental imagery in mental calculation" (Chris Bills and Eddie Gray); ( ) "Readiness for algebra" (Gillian M. Boulton-Lewis, Tom J. Cooper, B. Atweh, H. Pillay, and L. Wilss); ( ) "Students' knowledge of length units: Do they know more than rules about rulers?" (Philippa Bragg and Lynne Outhred); ( ) "Becoming more aware: Psychoanalytic insights concerning fear and relationship in the mathematics classroom" (Chris Breen); (15) "Same/different: A 'natural' way of learning mathematics" (Laurinda Brown and Alf Coles); (16) "The effect of some classroom factors on grade 3 pupil gains in the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme" (Margaret Brown, Hazel Denvir, Valerie Rhodes, Mike Askew, Dylan Wiliam, and Esther Ranson); (17) "'Automatism' in finding a 'solution' among junior high school students: A comparative study" (Gildo Luis Bulafo) (18) "A study of the mathematical behaviors of mathematicians: The role of metacognition and mathematical intimacy in solving problems" (Marilyn P. Carlson); ( ) "Bringing out the Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

School Science and Mathematics, 1994

Ample evidence is available to support the contention that, for learning to be meaningful, concepts must be connected and integrated within the experiences of the learner. In mathematics, at least three kinds of connections are particularly beneficial: connections within mathematics, across the curriculum, and with real world contexts. The authors' work with preservice and inservice teachers has convinced them that teachers possess both the willingness and the capability to help students make meaningful connections, given encouragement and support. This article focuses on making mathematical connections across the curriculum; activities which help teachers learn how to design their own are shared.

Numeracy

In this article, we confront the challenges to teacher education students and practicing teachers raised by the concept of numeracy and its place in the curriculum. In the Australian Curriculum, there is an expectation that teachers at all grade levels and in all subject areas develop students' numeracy capabilities. At Monash University, a public, research-intensive university, the largest university in Australia, graduate level teacher education students are now required to complete a course entitled Numeracy for Learners and Teachers. We describe the content of this course and, from an online survey, report findings of the impact on students' understandings of the relationship between numeracy and mathematics, their confidence and numeracy performance, and their readiness to incorporate numeracy in their teaching. Using a similar online survey, we also examine practicing teachers' confidence about their numeracy proficiency, their views on how numeracy and mathematics are related, and provide a snapshot of the teachers' actual numeracy capabilities. We discuss the implications of our findings.

National Center For the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, 2006

Brock Education Journal

This essay describes the development of the word numeracy as it evolved from its initial use in 1959 to its current meaning today. Initially appearing in a British report to address mathematics education of teenage boys and girls, it was first used in relation to the word literate and defined as the ability with or knowledge of numbers. By the mid-1960s, the meaning shifted from computation of numbers to the ability to interpret data and make sense of the world through business, science, and technology. In the 1970s, numeracy was seen as a skill that was essential in life and by the turn of the twenty-first century, numeracy came to include the ability to reason. Numeracy was no longer seen simply in the area of mathematics but continued to permeate through all areas of study and furthermore, into daily life.

2004

If we take as our starting point the quite reasonable proposition that numeracy is "having the competence and disposition to use mathematics to meet the general demands of life at home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life" (Willis 1992) then what 'being numerate' means becomes quite problematic. Even a cursory glance at work, tertiary, training and school curricula demonstrate the significant mathematical demands that are made on workers and students in order that they do their 'work' well. Numeracy certainly means more than having competence with a set of basic mathematical skills. This has serious implications for all teachers who are preparing young people for life, learning and the workplace. In this paper we propose a Numeracy Framework as a way of describing numeracy, diagnosing learning issues, supporting teacher planning and for teaching to students and workers so that they can choose to learn how to act numerately. While this framework has been developed in consultation with teachers in primary and secondary schools in Australia it builds on work previously done in work, training and school sites on Key Competencies particularly 'Using mathematical ideas and techniques in practical settings'. Requiring teachers across the curriculum to take numeracy seriously cannot in the end make demands on them that are unrealistic, too complex, too time consuming, and take them so far away from their core work as to compromise both their area and numeracy. Some practical ways of adopting this framework for use by teachers are briefly outlined. Numeracy -more than being able to do some basic computations It seems that numeracy is finally being taken seriously by education and training sectors and systems around the world. However there still does not seem to be a shared understanding of what numeracy 'is'. People perceive and describe numeracy in many different ways. A wide variety of terms is used almost interchangeably with numeracy.

ZDM, 2015

Although it can be argued that there is a distinction between the terms numeracy and mathematical literacy (McAskill, Holmes, Francis-Pelton, & Watt, 2004), the fact is that preferential use of the terms seems to be geographic, with some countries choosing to use the former while other opt for the latter (Hoogland, 2003). Even within countries there is sometimes a geographic disparity. For example, in Canada, all of Canada uses mathematical literacy, except British Columbia, which uses numeracy. As such, for the purposes of this article, the terms will be used interchangeably.