Teaching and Learning of Mathematics using technology:opportunities and pitfalls

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Using Technology in Mathematics 3-4 June 2011

Request for comment: New Mathematical literacy curriculum

Hi All,

I am sure that you are all aware that we are due for curriculum revision which will be implemented in 2012. The revision documents has been gazetted last Friday and can be downloaded from here:

• Maths Lit CAPPS doc

At last Fridays Marang meeting, Mark North who was responsible for the revision of the Maths lit Curriculum, talked to us about how he went about compiling the new document which will basically replace all the other ML documents that we are currently working with. He was supported in this task by Arnot Brombacher as a critical reader. I am still waiting for Marc to send me his powerpoint, but in the mean time you can listen to his talk: (I will insert his PPT here when I get it).

• Mark's talk

Lynn Bowie then did a response to Marc's presentation:

Ml response

View more presentations from LynnBowie.

You can listen to her response here (click on it, minimise the player and the follow along with her presentation)

• Lynn

And there were of course lots of questions.....

• Questions and answers

I have tried my best to edit the worst  noise out, but in the interest of publishing it quickly, I apologise for bad sound quality here and there.

You can also go and leave comments on the LIVE document and see  others comments here:
The live docs are here:

• Mathematical Literacy (FET / 10-12)
• Mathematics (FET / 10-12)

A.notate.com is a great tool for quick colloboration. Just sign in with your e-mail address and highlight or drag a box anywhere on the document. It will open a box where you can insert a comment note. You can even comment on other's notes. If you need any technical assistance please let me know and I will help you.

Marang Symposium Feedback

I attended the Marang symposium at Wits last Friday which considered ways in which we can judge last years examinations by taking a closer look at the papers and assessment structure. The talks centred around the questions:

* What do different ways of classifying questions reveal about the relationship between the intended and examined curriculum?

* What does this reveal about the relationship between the policy documents and practice?

* What role can taxonomies play in analyzing the standard of the examinations, the spread of mathematical and science activities and what do they reveal about nature of the examinations and the conceptualization of the subjects?

Prof Hamsa Venkat kicked off by discussing a critique of the Mathematical Literacy assessment taxonomy. Lynn Bowie looked at it from a mathematics point of view and also examined different taxonomies. Arnout (always entertaining) then did a summary and his take on the issues and perspectives by providing a critique, not only on the two papers, but also on assessment practices regarding maths and maths literacy in general. You can (must) listen to the actual podcasts of the sessions, by clicking On each podcast:

Find more music like this on Maths Literacy Teacher's Network


Hamsa's presentation (View while listening to her podcast):
Critiquing the Mathematical Literacy assessment taxonomy

Lynn's presentation: (View while listening to her podcast):
Cognitive levels and types of mathematical activities

Our photo album:

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