Mathematical connections for the middle school specialist

Abstract

The middle school program is one specialisation of the two-year Bachelor of Teaching (BTeach) course at the University of Tasmania. Students have a total of eighty hours of mathematics curriculum contact over the two years of the program, investigating particular issues associated with teaching mathematics in years 5 to 8. It is in the middle years that children become able to reason abstractly, and begin to develop relational concepts such as ratio and proportion. These years also provide exciting opportunities for cross-curricular applications of numeracy. The increasing demands made on children's numeracy by advances in technology create conditions in which 'old mathematics' needs to be taught in new ways. Teachers of mathematics in these years need to be confident about mathematics and able to develop important concepts that underpin much future mathematical development.