Unit Outline

This unit introduces students to pedagogies appropriate for teaching primary mathematics and contributes to your evidence for meeting Graduate Teaching Standards. The unit will model and provide opportunities for students to engage with rich tasks, group work, problem solving, and differentiating the curriculum using examples from the number domain of the Australian Curriculum. Students will develop their understanding of appropriate pedagogies for teaching mathematics and their knowledge of relevant curricula, the development of students' thinking in number, and the relationship of content knowledge to pedagogy. It will provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to deepen their own mathematical content knowledge within the domain of number, assess primary students' mathematical thinking using work samples and to evaluate teaching resources.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	articulate an understanding of mathematical knowledge and skills appropriate for primary teaching and communicate these in a scholarly and appropriate manner
2.	identify appropriate pedagogies for teaching and assessing mathematics, and apply these to practice
3.	plan for, and justify, appropriate mathematical teaching experiences in the domain of number that incorporate appropriate pedagogical principles
4.	evaluate and assess students mathematical thinking through analysing student work in the domain of number and justify the teaching approach taken as a result of this analysis

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Concurrent Pre-requisite	EMT502

Alterations as a result of student feedback

• Adjustment of weighting of assessment tasks to include low stake assessment task early in semester
• The inclusion of award badges through MyLO to encourage online and on campus engagement and attendance
• Refinement of weekly readings to include essential and optional reading material
• Provision of a take-home exam rather than an on-campus supervised exam

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Rich Mathematical Task	Week 4	20 %	LO1, LO2
Assessment Task 2:	Assignment	Week 10	50 %	LO1, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Exam	Exam Period	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Rich Mathematical Task

Task Description:

For this assignment, you will be asked to select a mathematical task to solve. The tasks will be available through MyLO together with the instructions for this assessment. You are also required to identify what constitutes a rich task, select or design your own rich task, and justify this selection. Your assignment must include:
• A correct solution and appropriate explanation of how you solved the task
• Selection of an appropriate rich task
Demonstrated understanding of the characteristics of a rich task.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 2.1, 2.5 and 3.3

Task Length:

800 words

Due Date:

Week 4 (22/Mar/2024)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Ability to accurately solve a rich mathematical task (30%)	LO1, LO2
2	Clearly explain your problem solving strategies (20%)	LO1, LO2
3	Select an appropriately rich task based on relevant criteria, with evidence from the literature (25%)	LO1, LO2
4	Identification of appropriate teaching experiences which facilitate contemporary pedagogy (25%)	LO1, LO2

Assessment Task 2: Assignment

Task Description:

For this assignment, you are required to analyse a selection of work samples involving students’ responses to mathematical problems. The work samples will be available through MyLO. Your analysis must include:
An accurate worked solution of the problem/s
Interpretation of what the student has done to solve the problem/s
An explanation of the rationale behind the students’ thinking as evidenced in the work samples
Reference to the literature that incorporates the ‘big ideas’ or key understandings of the mathematics in the problem/s
Identification of appropriate teaching strategies and approaches to help with developing student understanding.

More details will be supplied on MyLO.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 2.5, 3.3, 3.4, 5.1

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 10 (08/May/2024)

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Clear written and oral communication of problem solving strategies (20%)	LO1
2	Accurate interpretation of student thinking supported by evidence from the relevant literature (25%)	LO4
3	Identification of appropriate teaching strategies, resources and approaches supported by evidence from the relevant literature and consistent with curriculum documents (25%)	LO3
4	Demonstration of an understanding of the broader aspects of mathematics teaching and learning (30%)	LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 3: Exam

Task Description:

The take-home examination will consist of 4 questions which will address aspects of mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning that have been covered in the unit. You are permitted to use resources, including textbooks, and unit materials. The take home exam will be available through MyLO and will be submitted using Dropbox. Note that the exam will be scheduled by the EMT521 teaching staff and will not be handled centrally through the examinations office. Dates for release and submission of the exam will be provided through MyLO but will occur in the scheduled exam period.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, 2.5, 1.2, 3.3

Task Length:

~1200 words

Due Date:

Exam Period (12/Jun/2024)

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evidence of your understanding about mathematics, and mathematics teaching strategies and learning, particularly in the domain of number (45%)	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Ability to accurately summarise unit content and identify appropriate resources to address short answer questions (45%)	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Use of appropriate written English and mathematics conventions to communicate in a written form (10%)	LO1

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Van de Walle, J., Karp, K., Bay-Williams, J., & Bass, A. (2019). Primary and middle years mathematics (1st Australian edition). Melbourne, Vic: Pearson. (Revel or hard copy version)

Reading Lists provide direct access to all material on unit reading lists in one place. This includes eReadings and items in Reserve. You can access the Reading List for this unit from the link in MyLO, or by going to the Reading Lists page on the University Library website.