Mathematics Information Evening with Professor Di Siemon

Thank you to all parents who attended the evening. There have been requests by parents to share some of Di’s work with the community. In the tab labeled Dianne Siemon's slide show is the extended power-point Di uses to present the key concepts behind mathematics teaching and learning. We hope that this will support you with how we approach learning here at PHPS and provide you with ideas to work with at home.

Research on teaching and learning and developments in our technological society have prompted considerable changes in how mathematics is taught. School mathematics NOW involves interaction and negotiation of the „big ideas‟. Contemporary approaches include: extended investigations, rich tasks, open-ended questions, games, discussion of solution strategies, mental computation, and visualisation

These are the ‘Big Ideas’ that address key concepts which, if not understood, will undermine students’ capacity to engage meaningfully with core aspects of the Number Strand in subsequent years. The first four are largely addressed in Primary school and are introduced in Prep as initial concepts and developed throughout the learning journey to Year 6.

Big Idea	Description
Trusting the Count	Developing flexible mental objects for the numbers 0 to 10
Place value	Moving beyond counting by ones, the structure of the base 10 numeration system
Additive to Multiplicative thinking	Moving from a count of equal groups (eg 1 six, 2 sixes, 3 sixes, 4 sixes, …) to a constant number of groups (eg 6 ones, 6 twos, 6 threes, 6 fours, 6 fives …), the key to understanding rational number and developing efficient mental and written computation strategies in later years
Partitioning	The missing link in building common fraction and decimal knowledge, understanding and confidence
Proportional reasoning	Extending what is known about multiplication and division beyond rule-based procedures to solve problems involving fractions, decimals, per cent, ratio, rate and proportion
Generalising	Skills and strategies to support equivalence, recognition of number properties and patterns, and the use of algebraic expressions