(10 credit points)

Lecturer/s: Professor M. A. Clements/S. Arnold

Prerequisite: At least one 500-level subject

Hours: 2 hours per week for one semester

Assessment: A 2000-word essay on "Reflections on your feelings/beliefs/practices in mathematics education," and a 3500-word report on the application of a theoretical issue studies in the course.

Content:

1. Behaviourism, outcomes/based education, constructivism, and other theories affecting practices in mathematics education.

2. Critique of the national mathematics curriculum framework.

3. Ethnomathematics; cultural factors impinging on mathematics education.

4. Language factors in mathematics learning.

5. Discourses in mathematics classrooms.

6. Philosophical influences on mathematics educations (Popper, Lakatos, Wittgenstein).

7. Assessment issues in mathematics education.

Reference:

Ellerton, N. F., & Clements, M. A. (1994). The national curriculum debacle. Perth: Meridian Press.