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Module MA3496: Mathematics Education

Credit weighting (ECTS)
10 credits
Semester/term taught
Michaelmas & Hilary Term 2017-18
Contact Hours
Initially 3 per week (including tutorials); later, time in classrooms (in school, college or adult education settings), together with some lectures / tutorials in College.
Lecturers
Prof. Elizabeth Oldham, Prof. Donal O'Donovan
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
  • Describe and critique major theories about mathematics teaching and learning;
  • Outline and critique the context, aims, learning outcomes, content, resource implications and assessment procedures of Irish school mathematics curricula, in the context of international developments.
  • Identify and describe their own current beliefs about the nature of mathematics and their philosophies of mathematics education;
  • Report on their classroom experience in the light of the theories and topics addressed: describing and analysing their own reactions to the classroom experience; describing the approaches to teaching and learning, and analyzing the student behaviours observed; and (in conjunction with this)
  • Research and present a project on a topic that appears, or might appear, in mathematics curricula.
 
Module Content
  • Introduction and overview.
  • Attitudes to mathematics.
  • Learning and teaching mathematics.
  • Mathematics curricula.
  • The nature of mathematics and philosophies of mathematics education.
 
Module Prerequisite
None
Assessment Detail
This module is assessed by means of coursework: tutorial exercises involving postings to the module's discussion forum (5%) a mathematical autobiography (5%); and a project and report related to students' experience in classrooms (90%).