Mathsliteracy Teachers resources

In order to ascertain the real-life situations that teachers, as stakeholders, would find suitable and appropriate to deal with in Mathematical Literacy (a compulsory subject for students who are not doing Mathematics at the Further Education and Training level of the South African education system), we embarked on a study known as the Relevance of School Mathematics Education (ROSME). The principle underpinning this article is that there are times when it is necessary to assess the functionality and quality of questionnaires used to ascertain affective domain issues. The study provides an analysis technique which is not affected by the sample of individuals completing a questionnaire, provided that the instrument meets particular requirements. It thus improves the rigour of measurement. Various statistics obtained in this study showed that the instrument used to determine the real-life situations which teachers prefer for Mathematical Literacy reasonably identifies this variable. However, it is cautioned that much more care needs to be exercised in construction of such instruments. The results also indicated the real-life situations which teachers most and least preferred to be included in Mathematical Literacy, providing useful information for policy-makers and textbook authors on contextual situations to be included in learning materials.

New article published online in Pythagoras, 32(1): Rasch modelling of Mathematics and Science teachers' preferences of real-life situations to be used in Mathematical Literacy.

People as well as animals are born with a sense for numbers. But is this inborn number sense related to mathematical ability? A new study suggests that it is.

The memo is here:

The memo is here: http://www.thutong.doe.gov.za/ResourceDownload.aspx?id=44943

Manfred's Gr12 June exam paper 1.

"MathX is a mathematical game where the player is given 4 single digit numbers (0-9). The player must apply the basic operators (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) to each of these numbers, using all the numbers once only, to get to the answer 24."

How a maths teacher is using twitter in his classroom.

The objective of good math teaching should not be to "cover the curriculum" but to show students how to explore our fascinating and beautiful world through the lens of mathematics. We must change our focus in math education from a focus on a largely irrelevant and uninteresting set of learning objectives to a focus on making math relevant and engaging for students.

This is the kind of thinking we should stimulate in our students

Ek het my vraestelle uit verskeie "ou" vraestelle saamgestel in die poging om die standaard dieselfde as vorige eksamens te kry. Het ook iets nuut uitgedink! Kyk maar daarna. (Louise Badenhorst)