Open Workshop: 

Being Mathematicians: Teaching for Proficiency in Problem Solving and Reasoning


Date: 6 May 2014, Tuesday

Venue: To Be Confirmed

Time: 2.00am to 6.00pm

Closing date: 25 April 2014, Friday

Workshop Fee: S$200.00 per participant which includes all training materials and 1 tea break.

For 2 or more participants from the same school/organisation who sign up, the cost will be S$150.00 per person. Fees do not include GST.

Registration is on a first come, first served basis. Register early to avoid disappointment.

Click here to download the Open Workshop Registration Form.

Workshop Synopsis

This course is designed for curriculum managers and other senior teachers who have responsibility for teaching and learning primary mathematics. It would also be of interest and value to class teachers. This half-day course clarifies the mathematical proficiencies of reasoning and problem solving and proposes teaching strategies for incorporating these proficiencies into the curriculum. It analyses the interplay between students becoming fluent in core mathematical skills and how this supports those learners to engage in problem solving and mathematical reasoning. It also illustrates core actions students need to apply in when reasoning and problem solving. In addition, it appraises the benefits that can come from a focus on teaching for mathematical proficiencies.

Learning outcomes

• To identify learner actions involved in reasoning and problem solving.
• To distinguish the differences in teaching styles required for the different proficiencies of fluency, reasoning and problem solving.
• To integrate the different proficiencies for mathematical understanding.
• To examine different learning tasks and identify which of the proficiencies they address.
• To review the role of contexts, models, actions and symbols in promoting reasoning and problem solving.
• To appraise the research underpinning the importance of these proficiencies.
• To examine the role of discussion in engaging learners in creative mathematical thinking.
• To apply the ideas in preparing for mathematics teaching.

Workshop Highlights

• Teaching for mathematical proficiency
• Locating reasoning and problem solving at the centre of the curriculum
• Identifying how these proficiencies can foster creative, independent learners.

Target Audience
Classroom teachers of all levels, staff developers, teachers of leadership programs and institutes, and leaders of school systems

About the Trainer - Professor Mike Askew

Professor Mike Askew is an internationally regarded expert on mathematics education. A mathematics graduate, Mike was a primary teacher before working in higher education. For twenty years he taught and researched at King’s College, University of London, where he was Chair Professor of Mathematics Education. For the academic year 2006/07 he was distinguished visiting scholar to the ‘Math in the City’ project, City College, New York, working with teachers and schools across the city. Mike then became Foundation Chair Professor of Primary Education at Monash University, Melbourne. He was recently the Claude-Leon Distinguished Scholar at Wits University, Johannesburg. Now an Adjunct Professor at Monash, Mike is a freelance consultant and writer.

Mike has directed many research projects including the influential 'Effective Teachers of Numeracy in Primary Schools', which was drawn upon by UK, Australian and Chilean Governments in developing mathematics teaching policy. Other projects have included 'Raising Attainment in Numeracy’ and ‘Mental Calculations: Interpretations and Implementation’. He was deputy director of the five-year Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme, examining teaching, learning and progression in mathematics to students from age 5 to age 11.

Mike’s research is widely published both in the academic arena and as books and resources for teachers. He is committed to making research accessible to teachers and in supporting the practical implications of research findings. His most recent book for teachers is ‘Transforming Primary Mathematics’ (Routledge, 2012). Mike believes that given rich, engaging and challenging problems to reason about then all pupils can be mathematicians.