Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Science and Mathematics Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Mathematical Mindsets: Fostering Student Engagement And Positive Mindsets Through The Use Of Challenging Tasks, Alison Hall Sep 2023

Mathematical Mindsets: Fostering Student Engagement And Positive Mindsets Through The Use Of Challenging Tasks, Alison Hall

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

This paper explores the planned use of challenging mathematical tasks. These tasks provide the opportunity for students to improve mathematical thinking by working on problems that they do not yet know how to answer. This research involved a heterogeneous class of year 3 students from a Catholic parish primary school in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. A rubric was also developed to use in conjunction with these tasks, to support discussions with students, broaden their strategies in finding solutions and thereby improve their conceptual understanding. These pedagogical approaches were found to support the improvement of both students’ conceptual understanding in …


Transdisciplinary Stem Enactment: An Exploratory Case Study In The Queensland Context, Kristie Schulz Sep 2023

Transdisciplinary Stem Enactment: An Exploratory Case Study In The Queensland Context, Kristie Schulz

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Enacting STEM education in Australian schools is an ambitious task, in a climate of unclear definitions and little implementation advice. Should STEM education simply refer to an umbrella-term of subjects that Australian students need to improve in, or could a cross-disciplinary pedagogy that engages students in authentic problem-solving be realised? This poster outlines a project in which Parklands Christian College designed and enacted a transdisciplinary student-centred ideology of STEM education in 2017. The program has continually evolved using a transdisciplinary pedagogical framework.


Supporting Science Teaching Practice With Learning Progressions, Erin Furtak Aug 2021

Supporting Science Teaching Practice With Learning Progressions, Erin Furtak

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Learning progressions are often used as foundations for curriculum and assessment. At the same time, as representations of the development of student ideas and practices, they can also serve as maps to support teachers during instruction. This paper describes a program of research in which my colleagues and I have investigated how learning progressions can support high school science teachers in cycles of co-designing formative assessments.


Accountable Assessment, Richard Lehrer Aug 2021

Accountable Assessment, Richard Lehrer

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

There is widespread agreement about the importance of accounting for the extent to which educational systems advance student learning. Yet, the forms and formats of accountable assessments often ill serve students and teachers; the summative judgements of student performance that are typically employed to indicate proficiencies on benchmarks of student learning commonly fail to capture student performance in ways that are specific and actionable for teachers. Timing is another key barrier to the utility of summative assessment. In the US, summative evaluations occur at the end of the school year and may serve future students, but do not help teachers …


Karmel Oration: Excellent Progress For All: A Function Of Year-Level Curriculum Or Evidenced-Based Learning Progressions?, Dianne Siemon Aug 2021

Karmel Oration: Excellent Progress For All: A Function Of Year-Level Curriculum Or Evidenced-Based Learning Progressions?, Dianne Siemon

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Excellent progress for all students is an ambitious but necessary goal if we are to improve the life choices of all students. At the moment, we are not serving all our students well despite the best efforts of teachers. We need to look further afield to the curriculum and assessment regimes that drive current practice. Grouping students by ability and offering a watered-down curriculum for some is not the answer. Evidenced-based learning progressions that point to what is important in ensuring all students build a deep, well-connected understanding of mathematics over time is what is needed to support reform at …


Stealth Assessment In Video Games, Val Shute Aug 2015

Stealth Assessment In Video Games, Val Shute

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Games can be powerful vehicles to support learning, but their success in education hinges on getting the assessment part right. In this presentation, I will explore how games can use stealth assessment to measure and support the learning of competencies critical for the future. I will discuss what stealth assessment is, why it is important, and how to develop and accomplish it. I will also provide examples within the context of a game called Physics Playground that I designed and developed with my team. I’ll share what has been learned by recent research on stealth assessments in games, including: Does …


Measuring What Matters: Challenges And Opportunities In Assessing Science Proficiency, James W. Pellegrino Aug 2015

Measuring What Matters: Challenges And Opportunities In Assessing Science Proficiency, James W. Pellegrino

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

A key challenge in shaping science learning for the future will be to develop new measures of learning that take into account what it means to be proficient in science (Pellegrino, 2013). The emergent view on proficiency, grounded in learning sciences research, emphasises using and applying knowledge in the context of disciplinary practice. Referred to as knowledge-in-use, this perspective on science proficiency is a centrepiece of the United States’ National Research Council’s (NRC) Framework for K–12 Science Education (NRC, 2012), embodied in the new US national standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) and emphasised in the recently released NRC report on …


Pisa: Behind The Headlines And Past The Rankings, Sue Thomson, Chris Wardlaw Aug 2015

Pisa: Behind The Headlines And Past The Rankings, Sue Thomson, Chris Wardlaw

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Whenever the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are announced, media headlines are full of reports about rankings, about how many countries Australia is outperformed by and outperforms. In early rounds of PISA, Australia ranked among the top 10 countries across all three education domains assessed. However, over time Australia’s position has declined, rather than improved, and Australia no longer sits in the top 10 of any of the assessed domains. This presentation will go behind the headlines and past the rankings, to look at where Australia has declined, and look at how we can improve outcomes …


Gender And Mathematics: Quality And Equity, Sue Thomson Aug 2014

Gender And Mathematics: Quality And Equity, Sue Thomson

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Over the past two decades, there have been no gender differences in mathematics achievement in Australia in large-scale international surveys such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Similarly, when mathematical literacy was measured in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2003, there were no gender differences. However, PISA 2012 found that, while average scores in mathematics had declined in Australia, males in Australia were significantly outperforming females, and females had significantly higher average levels of anxiety about and significantly lower levels of confidence in mathematics. In light of the recent report of the Australian …


Learning And Fearing Mathematics : Insights From Psychology And Neuroscience, Sarah Buckley, Kate Reid Aug 2013

Learning And Fearing Mathematics : Insights From Psychology And Neuroscience, Sarah Buckley, Kate Reid

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 2