Unit name | Children Learning Mathematics - School-based Inquiry |
---|---|
Unit code | EDUCM5304 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Brown |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The unit supports participants to conduct a small-scale school-based research project in the area of children's learning of mathematics. Having been introduced to some common research methods used in research in mathematics education, participants visit a local school or work with video recordings from classrooms to investigate some aspect of mathematical learning. As part of the assessment of the unit, students write up and present their project in the form of a conference paper using the format of a leading international mathematics education conference. The increase in weighting will allow participants to work on their research project in more depth. This unit involves each participant working in a local school to carry out a small-scale research project to explore an issue related to children's learning of mathematics. The project is written up and presented as a research paper for assessment.
Aims:
After taking this unit, the student should demonstrate that they:
The unit begins with six classes involving a mixture of reading, writing, discussion and practical activities. These will be taught using a blended approach consisting of a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities including seminars, readings and online discussions. Each participant then spends time doing fieldwork with video recordings from classrooms or in local schools linked with a local teacher interested in a similar research issue. The unit ends with a seminar in which participants give presentations about their research projects. Two tutorials are offered, one during research design and one during analysis of data to consider structure of the final paper.
Formative assessment tasks include a short piece of writing outlining a research interest, preparatory materials for a research project (e.g., an observation schedule; satisfying ethics requirements) and the production of research data (e.g., transcripts, field notes, ).
Summative assessment is through the writing and presentation of a conference paper based on the guidelines for the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) (equivalent to a 4000 word assignment). ILO1-4.
For this course the following three books will support the developing research skills of participants:
Altrichter, H, Posch, P and Somekh, B (1993) Teachers Investigate their Work, London: Routledge
Brown, A and Dowling, P (1998) Doing Research/Reading Research, a Mode of Interrogation for Education, London: Falmer
Brown, S and McIntyre, D (1993) Making Sense of Teaching, Buckingham: Open University Press