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Outcomes for Schools

Good achievement is mathematics and numeracy is essential in modern Australia. It provides the foundation for life-long learning, employment satisfaction and the economic competitiveness of Australia. Local and international studies show that Australia achieves well in mathematics and has much to be proud of, but they also show that there is substantial room for improvement.

One of the major challenges in teaching mathematics is to provide personalised learning opportunities that meet the needs of individual students. Many students have misconceptions or gaps in their knowledge which are a barrier for further learning but often go unaddressed. The smart-tests aim to give teachers readily useable information about each student's understandings to help the teachers select instruction that will bring about specific conceptual changes.

"Specific mathematics assessments that reveal thinking", which we call smart-tests, are mathematical questions that probe students' mathematical thinking and knowledge of key ideas. Many of the smart-tests were first developed in research studies, and one of the goals of this project is to make the substantial research knowledge about students' mathematical thinking readily available in classrooms. Click here for a list of smart-tests currently available of use the "try a smart-test" button in the menu above.

When fully operational, typical use of smart-tests might proceed as follows. Before a unit of work, a teacher looks at the catalogue of smart-tests and selects one or two modules that are relevant to the new unit. Students do the smart-tests online, maybe at school or at home. They might only take 5-10 minutes to complete. When the students have completed the test, the teacher automatically receives a class report of the levels and types of understandings shown by students in the class. Diagnosis of individual students is also available. The teacher uses this information to provide targeted teaching to individuals or groups, assisted by links to appropriate on-line resources, such as those within the Mathematics Developmental Continuum. A parallel smart-test might be assigned for students at the end of the unit, so that progress can be tracked and further targeted instruction can be provided if needed.

In the first instance, smart-tests are being created for students in Years 7 - 9. They should prove especially useful for mathematics coaches, schools intending to improve mathematics achievement and to personalise students' learning as well as for teachers teaching mathematics 'out-of-field'.

Teaching and learning from mistakes

Teaching for conceptual growth
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