Ambitious mathematics teaching

This course supports the participants’ development of competence to enact ambitious mathematics teaching. The key principles of ambitious mathematics teaching may be captured as follows: formulating clear mathematical goals, treating students as sense-makers, engaging deeply with students’ thinking and designing instruction so that all students have equitable opportunities to learn and understand mathematics.

Special emphasis in the course is on students’ development of number sense, so work on arithmetic - properties of and relations between numbers and operations, and early algebra. In particular, the role of reasoning and justification in mathematics and in learning of mathematics is emphasized in the course.

In addition to work on number sense and early algebra, more general topics about identification and understanding phenomena and proceses that are relevant for teaching and learning of mathematics in primary school are discussed in the course. In particular, an important topic in the course is students’ motivation in mathematics and interplay between motivation for the subject and teaching instruction.

Knowledge

The candidate

• has knowledge about ambitious mathematics teaching, principles and core practices that are sentral in ambitious teaching, with particular emphasis on communication

• has knowledge of students’ learning in work on numbers and arithmetic operations, and also early algebra

• has knowledge of students’ motivation in mathematics

• has knowledge about role of reasoning and justification in mathematics and learning of mathematics

Skills

The candidate

• can implement ambitious mathematics teaching that support students’ meaningful engagement in mathematics and contribute to students’ reflections on their own learning and understanding

• can use relevant research literature to plan, analyse and evaluate own mathematics teaching, and can contribute in collective planning, rehearsal, try out and analysis of mathematical activities

• can use relevant research literature on motivation in mathematics in own practice

• can use relevant research literature to analyse students’ reasoning and justification in work on numbers and arithmetic operations

General competance

The candidate

• can present, discuss and analyse their own teaching tryouts

• can familiarize him/herself with research in mathematics education and relate it to own teaching work

The teaching is organized in seminars of mainly one-day’s duration. Majority of the seminars are part of professional development Mastering Ambitious Mathematics Teaching. Two additional seminars, not a part of the professional development, will be given during the last two semesters.

The teaching methods will alternate between lectures, work on research papers, discussions, investigations, analyses of tasks and activities, and collective planning, rehearsal, tryout and analysis of activities, learning and teaching.