With the aim of engaging more students in meaningful thinking in mathematics, a cohort of Year 7 students were introduced to a 'Building Thinking Classrooms' framework for learning in mathematics. In this paper, the authors outline the key features of the implemented framework and share reflections on challenges and benefits.

In his work leading professional development, Peter Klosterman found that teachers specifically asked for help teaching optimisation more effectively. To address challenges students often experience solving optimisation problems, he explains useful pedagogical strategies to support the teaching of optimisation and student learning in this topic.

The authors describe and discuss an activity in which primary school students were instructed how to use graph theory to solve a spatial puzzle. This activity was aligned with the design principles of vicarious failure. They discuss how this impacted the type of dialogue observed in the classroom and found that students were more likely to focus…

This is the first of four columns by Tim Erikson which introduces us to the Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP). CODAP is a free, web-based software tool that your students can use for many types of tasks. This first column shows how CODAP can be used for mathematical modelling and where it might fit with the "Australian Curriculum:…

Number fact knowledge spans far beyond conventional automatic mastery practices involving rote learning. Having the ability to automatically recall number facts fluently does not mean students will have strong conceptual understanding. This article provides suggestions for how number fact thinking and fluency might be developed in primary…

Research shows that when students engage with mathematical inquiry their problem-solving skills are strengthened. Demands in the revised Australian curriculum raised problem-solving of new senior secondary mathematics assessment, specifically in Queensland Problem-solving and Modelling Tasks (PSMTs). The challenge for Queensland was to scale…

This article is motivated by the importance of developing statistically literate students. The authors present a selection of problems that could be used to motivate student interest in probability as well as providing additional depth to the curriculum when used alongside traditional resources. The solutions presented utilise natural frequencies…

Enhancing the mathematical problem solving and conceptual understanding of Year 6 students was the goal for a team of primary teachers. For this purpose, they investigated a teaching approach involving Challenging Tasks as a Professional Learning Community. The process followed by the team is outlined, and the impact on teaching and learning is…

This article presents the journey taken by staff at St. Patrick's Primary School in Kilmore to implement a consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics, using an instructional model to support student learning through structured inquiry pedagogies.

Duncan Symons and Derek Holton discuss the different types of mathematical reasoning and what each of these might look like in the classroom. By suggesting language that can be used to describe the different methods of reasoning, they hope to provide teachers with the tools they need to better recognise and assess student reasoning.

In this article, the authors present an inquiry activity presented to Year 7 students in a mathematics excellence class at a P-12 school in regional Queensland. Different students solved the activity (comparing the sugar content of fruit) using decimals, percentages, ratio and rates. By asking the students to solve a problem they were much more…

A practical for students to experience a process plant is presented, based on operating a solvent absorption plant for carbon dioxide capture. The student must operate the plant in assigned roles that closely identify with a chemical plant environment, to achieve specific performance targets. Students must overcome technical challenges that…

Mathematics curricula have traditionally focused on content knowledge, often in the form of a scope and sequence of increasingly difficult mathematics. The importance of using and applying mathematics is recognised in the current Australian Curriculum Mathematics (AC: M) as 'proficiencies' that are intended to be integrated with the content. There…

In this brief article, Peter, Larissa and Doug present a single-page scaffold that challenges us to think of the mathematical proficiencies in a whole new way. By thinking of the proficiencies as verbs, they can be seen as purposeful learner actions and offer clues as to what it might mean to be a mathematician.

In response to increasing teacher interest in how to design and implement effective challenging tasks, James presents the Launch/Explore/Discuss model that builds on the work of leading Australian educators and researchers Peter Sullivan, Doug Clarke, and Charles Lovitt.