Why mechanics should be integral to secondary school mathematics

Rowlands, Stuart

doi:10.1093/teamat/hrn021

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…A crude summary of Section 4 would hold that mechanics is seen as: the subject of the 'most able'; 'proper' mathematics; the strand most usefully related to other subjects; the strand most connected to everyday experience; the most intrinsically interesting strand; and the strand which teachers prefer to teach. The strengths of mechanics are many (for an extensive discussion, see Rowlands, 2008). However, the acuteness of this inferred consensus is open to criticism; in the words of Brown (1999), it can be argued that 'although it is a valid and important application of mathematics it should appear in the A-level mathematics course as one of many, and should not have the favoured place that it currently occupies in England and Wales (and in no other country) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discussing perception, determining provision: teachers' perspectives on the applied options of A-level mathematics

Ward-Penny

Johnston-Wilder

2012

Teaching Mathematics and its Applications

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One-third of the current A-level mathematics curriculum is determined by choice, constructed out of 'applied mathematics' modules in mechanics, statistics and decision mathematics. Although this choice arguably involves the most sizeable instance of choice in the current English school mathematics curriculum, and it has a significant impact on students' post-compulsory study of mathematics, it is not well understood how this choice is navigated. This article explores how mathematics teachers perceive each of these three areas of applied mathematics, how widely each of the modules is offered and in what ways perception might be connected to provision. Data from an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews demonstrate that teachers are influenced by a wide range of factors, including strategic concerns and views on the relative worth of each strand. The results also highlight the presence of inertia in centres' provision. In this way, this article offers some insight into current perception and provision of applied mathematics in England, and speaks to contemporary debates about curriculum content and reform. It argues that students' exposure to the powerful utility of mathematics is often unhelpfully steered or limited at a critical point in their education.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%