A few weeks ago, we stumbled upon a story: an academic in Ireland resigned from a school mathematics curriculum review committee because she had insufficient faith that the committee was properly concerned for mathematics or properly respectful of mathematical expertise. So, yes, we stumbled upon the same story that we keep stumbling upon, time and […]
Readers may have noticed the occasional post here whacking VCAA and, more generally, Victorian mathematics education. Why? One reason is simply that Melbourne is my home town; it is where I grew up and to where I returned, thirty years ago. So, I simply know much more about Victoria’s maths ed idiocy. Also, I still […]
This is our post for noting local nonsense in the new Australian Mathematics Curriculum (downloads here). It is a list of the content descriptions and the elaborations that appear to be deficient/wrong/misplaced/weird/whatever. It includes anything that has come to our attention and has sufficiently annoyed us and/or others. (This post supersedes a previous post, and […]
Nah, I’m kidding, of course. WA couldn’t care less what you think. WA has provided you the opportunity to say what you think, however, and you should take it. Enough of this, and WA will have no choice but to care.
I was gonna let this one go but an email prompted me to reconsider. Then, I wasn’t sure how to do it, and pondered either a quick PoSWW or a full-blown post. In the end I decided to handball it to the aether and make it a WitCH. It is a triple bunger of nonsense, […]
A few years back, I was pondering how to bring about the desperately needed reform of Victorian mathematics education and, in particular, of VCE. I had been sermonising on the awfulness of VCE, and everything, for a good ten years, and blogging for five, and it all made zero difference. Not because anyone argued, or […]
Attached below is a South Australian syllabus from a while back, which fell off the back of someone’s truck. The “Detailed Syllabus Statements” are for Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2, which played the roles of VCAA’s current Methods and Specialist subjects.* There is also contained the syllabus for Mathematics 1S, a weaker version of Mathematics […]
The New South Wales Department of Education is cajoling, and possibly commanding, teachers to engage in “explicit teaching”. What does that mean? According to the Department, Explicit teaching practices involve teachers clearly showing students what to do and how to do it, rather than having students discover that information themselves. Yeah, what dinosaurs.
Below is the announcement of the Department of Education’s exam review. Make of it what you can, and what you will.
It’s a mathematics curriculum: one does not expect much history or many references to other cultures. Typically there are a few Roman numerals, a quick hello to Pythagoras and Archimedes, and that’s about it. More would be good, but it is not to be expected.