The New Australian Mathematics Curriculum

There must be a better way of doing this. But, we’re a blogger of very little brain, so we’ll do it this way.

Having slogged our way through the new Mathematics Curriculum, we’ve read enough to realise that we’ll be writing plenty more. It seems worthwhile, there, having a dedicated meta-post for these posts. This is it. (It is and will remain a subset of The ACARA Page.)

Paralleling the ACARA Crash series on the draft curriculum, the majority of the upcoming posts will be in the just-created New Cur series. As indicated below, we’ve slightly retitled three posts to be the beginning of this series.

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The Awfullest Australian Curriculum Probability Lines

We made it. We have read ACARA’s entire idiotic mathematics curriculum, and we’ve completed the Complete Awfullest Works. Meaning, soon, we’ll be on to Stage Two. But first, following on from Number and Algebra and Measurement and Space and Statistics, we have the post for the awfullest Probability lines.

The Probability stream is, of course, awful, but the awfulness is notably different in character from that of the Statistics. Whereas the statistics is a homogeneous gruel of “data”, with the only mathematical substance being the tiny, tasteless raisins of “median” and its kin, the probability stream has just enough substance to be consistently, solidly stupid.

Note that the Probability stream only begins in Year 3 since, unlike Algebra, the kids need to know a little before considering such concepts.

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The Awfullest Australian Curriculum Statistics Lines

This one is different. It is ostensibly a year-by-year selection of the worst statistics lines chosen from the Complete Awfullest Works. Unlike for Number and Algebra and Measurement and Space, however, this is effectively impossible. Nothing similar, or anything, properly works for Statistics. Even the lines chosen for the Complete Awfullest Works were chosen largely at random.

The Statistics stream is so bad, so vague and thin and aimless and repetitive, the only proper way to appreciate the badness is to read the entire thing. There is likely just one person in Australia stubborn enough to do that: Merchant-Ivory has its Joe Queenan, and ACARA has its Marty. You’re welcome.

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The Awfullest Australian Curriculum Space Lines

Yes, it is VCE season, but the ACARA show must go on.

Continuing with our Best Worst Of series, and following on from NumberAlgebra and Measurement, here are the awfullest Space lines, chosen from the Complete Works.

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The Awfullest Australian Curriculum Algebra Lines

We’ve now gone through all the algebra – more accurately, “algebra” – sections of ACARA’s new mathematics curriculum. Parallel to our Worst Number Lines post, the following is our list of the worst algebra lines. Once again, it is important to note that these few lines do not begin to convey the unrelenting stupidity and triviality of the curriculum.

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The Awfullest Australian Curriculum Number Lines

As regular readers will know, and have been ignoring, we’ve been steadily working through ACARA’s new mathematics curriculum, compiling the annoying-or-way-worse 1-liner content descriptions and elaborations. No one is reading it of course, because that would be nuts. Or, it would cause the reader to go nuts. But, we’ll continue. In for a penny, in for a pounding. Continue reading “The Awfullest Australian Curriculum Number Lines”

Australian Mathematics Curriculum Awfulnesses

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 the suggestions already made have been incorporated below.) There is no intention to be comprehensive, which would probably entail transcribing 80% of the thing. We’ll just keep adding over time, as awfulnesses come to our attention. Of course criticisms and suggestions and discussion are always welcome, and can be made in the comments. Continue reading “Australian Mathematics Curriculum Awfulnesses”

De Carvalho Hawks the New Curriculum

We still haven’t gotten to ACARA’s sparkly new curriculum. We do have David de Carvalho, however, to tell us all about its wonderfulness, and the wonderfulness of ACARA’s processes.

A couple weeks ago, De Carvalho was interviewed by Geraldine Doogue on Radio National’s Saturday Extra. Of course, Doogue asked De Carvalho all the tough questions. You can listen yourself, at the link below. Doogue introduces the discussion and De Carvalho as follows:

… primarily, the terms of reference for the new curriculum were to reduce the amount of content, the common ground being that all involved in education thought the previous curriculum was, quote, “a mile wide and an inch deep”. Well, my next guest argues that we now have a more teachable curriculum, that focusses on conceptual understanding … 

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AustMS Reminds Us That ACARA Stuffed Up

We still haven’t had the time, the energy or the stomach to analyse ACARA’s sparkly new curriculum. We’ll get there, we promise.

In the meantime, Ole Warnaar, the President of the Australian Mathematical Society and previous recipient of ACARA’s contempt, has written bluntly on just how farcical was the final act of ACARA’s two-year farce. Ole’s remarks, from his letter in the May issue of the AustMS Gazette are reproduced below. Continue reading “AustMS Reminds Us That ACARA Stuffed Up”