Mathematics and Statistics

Greenmeadows Intermediate School - Mathematics and Statistics 

In Maths and Statistics, students explore relationships in quantities, space, and data, and learn to express these relationships in ways that help them to make sense of the world around them through strategic thinking.

Learning is challenged through establishing the students level of cognition and identifying what the students almost know using the pedagogical framework as set out in the Numeracy Project.  This is effectively the process of identifying Vygotsky's notion of zone of proximal development and manipulating this to further then students mathematical development.  

Effective teachers provide opportunities for students to construct new meaning through relational means opposed to instructional means.  The implications of this on teacher practice highlights the need for less teacher dialogue and students co-constructing and making connections between schema (understandings) and generalizing strategies.  It is important to note that often our students present with incorrectly formed schema.  As highlighted by Skemp and Piaget  it is often more difficult to accommodate change to a schema than to assimilate a new schema.  

Planning should never be focussed around sequencing events.  Rather, the teacher should plan mathematical problems that promotes the students own construction of the given focus or strategy.  This effectively will drive planned formative assessment and will enable the teacher to eliminate the common complexity of teaching students what they already know.  Students who demonstrate an ability to apply a generalization should be allowed to practice this independently whist the teacher further scaffolds those that do not.  This underpins the philosophy of catering for diversity.  

It is important to recognize that Number drives the application of the other strands.  For this reason Number is taught throughout the year and should be contextually set in the terms given strand focus.    

Number and Algebra

Learning in number involves the development in number knowledge, number sense, strategic thinking, and culminates in a broad goal in developing sound algebraic thinking.  This process is supported pedagogically by the number framework, strategy teaching model presented in the Numeracy Project.  

Measurement

Students will develop knowledge and understanding of systems of measurement and will use these with confidence in their everyday environment.

Statistics

A Statistical Inquiry will provide students with a real-world application of Mathematics and provide the opportunity to work collaboratively.  Students will be collecting, organizing and describing data through close analysis and probability, using the Statistical Inquiry Cycle.  

Geometry

Through the study of Geometry, students develop special awareness and the ability to recognise and use the Mathematics of geometry in everyday life.  

Probability

Through problem solving in probability, students will explore calculating and expressing the likelihood of am event or series of events.