Course coordinator
Dr Jana Visnovska
Please arrange an appointment time in advance via email.
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 22/11/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 4
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Education School
This course prepares pre-service teachers to teach intermediate and advanced level Mathematics in the senior phase of schooling. It does not, on its own, satisfy the accreditation requirements for qualification as a secondary mathematics teacher. This course provides opportunities for pre-service teachers who are qualified to undertake two teaching areas in mathematics to build on the knowledge and skills developed in EDUC7644 Mathematics: Curriculum Studies. The course will engage pre-service teachers in an extended analysis of recent disciplinary developments in scholarship and professional practice in the teaching of Mathematics. They will be provided with opportunities to develop relevant knowledge and teaching strategies to address literacy and numeracy demands and learning opportunities that exist in intermediate and advanced level Mathematics. A focus of the course will be on interacting with and developing activities and learning experiences which engage and deepen student understanding of mathematics beyond the textbook. Pre-service teachers will demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills to practice through (i) designing, implementing and evaluating effective learning and teaching sequences and discipline specific assessment tasks that draw on curriculum, assessment, and ICT knowledge; and (ii) identifying and designing discipline specific opportunities for professional engagement and communication within the school context, teaching networks and the broader community. EDUC7644 Mathematics: Curriculum Studies is a co-requisite for this course.
For Semester 1, 2025, the mid-semester break for this course will be relocated to university week 8. In Semester 2, this course commences 1 week before standard Semester 2 classes.
Course Description
This course focuses on familiarising preservice teachers who aspire to teach Advanced Mathematics courses in senior years of high school with teaching, planning, life-long professional learning, and instructional leadership practices. The study of Advanced Mathematics is often linked to developing skills and competencies that are key to sciences and analytical fields of study, and to enhancing competitive advantage of countries in global market. But these reasons do not always resonate with students who could benefit themselves and others through becoming good at mathematics. We will explore how teachers can support their students' enthusiasm for Advanced Mathematics courses via design of engaging classroom activities.
We would all agree that Advanced Mathematics courses must challenge learners to think, reason, question, and communicate mathematically. We will explore how they could, at the same time, become known as exciting and inclusive spaces for students’ personal and emotional growth.
We will explore how to support students in developing rich conceptual understanding of advanced mathematical ideas and cultivate their interest in and ability to successfully pursue study of mathematics (and the broad spectrum of quantitative and data-using topics) at higher levels. In doing so, we will consider how mathematical work looks like in this time and age, what tools are essential to doing mathematical work, when and where it is needed, and who would students need to become in order to see themselves as competent and confident users and makers of mathematics. The crucial role of the classroom teacher in this process, and of the broader school-based teacher community, will be at the centre of the course explorations.
Course requirements
Companion or co-requisite courses
You'll need to complete the following courses at the same time:
EDUC7644
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
EDUC6840
Restrictions
Entry to the Master of Teaching (Secondary) program
Jointly taught details
This course is jointly-taught with:
in-person course sessions (workshops), assessments
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Guest lecturer
Mr Tom Sprenger
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
One of the Saturdays (or Sundays) in Sem 1 is dedicated to an optional "Fractions" workshop (app. 5 hrs). This is open to all UQ students, but the date is selected based on availability of students in this course. Preliminary options for 2025 workshop are Sat 22 March, or 29 March (back up Sun 23 March and 30 March). If interested, pls mark these dates in your calendar.ﾠﾠﾠ
Aims and outcomes
The aim of this course is to nourish the growth of enthusiastic, open, curious, empathetic and wise mathematics teachers and future leaders of school-based instructional improvement efforts in mathematics. We aim to explore, in new light, topics in advanced mathematics, ways of supporting our students to learn these topics, as well as ways of collaborating with colleagues and forming professional communities where teachers become the greatest resource to one another. We will learn how to find ‘gaps’ in our own understanding and turn these into our strengths, and try to find a firm footing in the ever-changing oceans of mathematics teaching and learning resources and technologies. We will work together to achieve these aims, and provide encouragement and constructive feedback to one another.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Demonstrate understanding of relevant content and critical analysis of recent disciplinary developments in scholarship and professional practice in the teaching of intermediate and advanced level Mathematics (APST 2.1)
LO2.
Demonstrate ability to apply knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and knowledge of relevant curriculum documents to the development of appropriate discipline based teaching strategies for students of varying abilities (APST 1.2, 1.5, 2.1)
LO3.
Demonstrate application of knowledge and skills to practice through designing, implementing and evaluating effective learning and teaching sequences and discipline specific assessment tasks that draw on relevant curriculum documents, range of effective teaching resources, a full range of assessment strategies, and ICT knowledge that enables teaching strategies that expands learning (APST 2.2, 2.6,
3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 5.1)
LO4.
Demonstrate comprehensive and in-depth knowledge and understanding of literacy and numeracy teaching strategies and their application in intermediate and advanced level Mathematics (APST 2.5)
LO5.
Demonstrate application of knowledge and skills to practice through identifying and designing discipline specific opportunities for professional engagement and communication within professional networks and associations (APST 6.4, 7.4)
LO6.
Demonstrate clear, fluent and coherent communication skills consistent with personal, professional and academic conventions
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation/ Student contribution, Reflection |
Active engagement in practices of the profession
|
30% 1400 words |
3/03/2025 - 31/10/2025
Due in the in-person, scheduled teaching (participation) weeks of the UQ School of Education 16-week Professional Year schedule. |
| Product/ Design, Reflection |
Learning and teaching sequence and assessment
|
40% 3200 words |
10/04/2025 2:00 pm 7/08/2025 2:00 pm |
| Presentation, Product/ Design |
Professional engagement and presentation
|
30% 1400 words |
31/10/2025 2:00 pm |
Assessment details
Active engagement in practices of the profession
- In-person
- Mode
- Activity/ Performance, Written
- Category
- Participation/ Student contribution, Reflection
- Weight
- 30% 1400 words
- Due date
3/03/2025 - 31/10/2025
Due in the in-person, scheduled teaching (participation) weeks of the UQ School of Education 16-week Professional Year schedule.
- Other conditions
- Longitudinal.
Task description
Ongoing weekly out-of-class learning and reflection activities. These are used to guide the direction of in-class discussions in subsequent sessions.
Purposes:
- To engage in a community of learning around the teaching and learning of advanced mathematics in secondary school
- To develop preliminary skills in lesson presentation
- To encourage peers through positive comments and constructive feedback
Preparation and participation. Students are expected to demonstrate an ongoing, active engagement with the central teaching and learning practices of the teaching profession by completing weekly home preparation tasks (such as class readings, mathematical learning modules, trialing learning tasks, analyses of classroom videos, and similar), and contributing to in-class and online collaborative tasks and discussions. Specific tasks are outlined in attached file and organised via a BlackBoard weekly checklist.
APST 2.1, 2.5
Submission guidelines
This assignment requires electronic communication with the instructor and/or peers about home-assigned tasks. This may include submission(s) of informal notes via Blackboard.
Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial. The module can be found at: https://www.uq.edu.au/integrity
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
Communication regarding extension or deferral availability for this item should be sent to the course coordinator directly.
Late submission
A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply for up to 7 days. After 7 days you will receive a mark of 0.
The late 'day' is calculated as an average over the duration of this ongoing assignment. That is, if one was late one day every week in which a submission is expected, this would result in 1 grade lowered final grade for this assignment at the end of the course.
Learning and teaching sequence and assessment
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia, Written
- Category
- Product/ Design, Reflection
- Weight
- 40% 3200 words
- Due date
10/04/2025 2:00 pm
7/08/2025 2:00 pm
- Other conditions
- Student specific.
Task description
Purposes:
- To draw together your knowledge about curriculum content and structure, mathematics teaching approaches, and assessment principles and practices.
- To develop your skills in curriculum planning and resource preparation.
- To develop your skills in identifying high quality digital resources relevant for teaching.
- To encourage you to use digital resources as a source of practical ideas for the classroom.
- To encourage you to extend your thinking about planning beyond the level of individual lessons.
Audience: Part A: Teachers. Part B: Academic audience.
Task Overview: This task has two components, A and B.
A. (25%) Design or modify three digital tools (such as interactive applets) that all target the progressive learning of the same mathematical idea, which is central to the content of Mathematical Methods or Specialist Mathematics curriculum. The three digital tools can aim at different year levels (for instance, an early exposure to a relevant idea, pattern, or phenomenon in year 8, its formalised mathematical introduction in year 10/11, and its advanced or formalised understanding in year 11/12). For each digital tool, design investigations, with details of teaching strategies to be used, appropriate at the year level that (a) capitalise on this resource to promote student understanding of your selected content, and (b) culminate in classroom discussions of students' insights into mathematical idea. Include informal, diagnostic, or formative assessment tools related to one of the activities. (2500 words)
B. (15%) Justify your choices in selecting particular activities and teaching strategies, including how they relate to ways students learn, how they improve all students’ access to the selected mathematical idea and promote literacy and numeracy. Explain how you have incorporated strategies to differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities. Reflect, in light of your practicum experiences, on the potential of your activities to address students’ engagement and propose suitable modifications. (700 words)
APST 1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 5.1
Submission guidelines
This assignment requires electronic submission of documents (learning and teaching sequence; reflection) via Blackboard.
Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial. The module can be found at: https://www.uq.edu.au/integrity
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply for up to 7 days. After 7 days you will receive a mark of 0.
Professional engagement and presentation
- Identity Verified
- In-person
- Mode
- Activity/ Performance, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Presentation, Product/ Design
- Weight
- 30% 1400 words
- Due date
31/10/2025 2:00 pm
- Other conditions
- Student specific, Work integrated learning.
Task description
Purposes:
- To authentically engage with the profession.
- To identify personal learning needs and ways to effectively improve as a teacher.
- To develop skills in identifying and designing high quality digital resources relevant for teaching.
- To demonstrate communication skills appropriate for a teacher audience.
Audience: Professional and personal
Task Overview: Engage with Queensland Association of Mathematics Teachers (QAMT) to plan a technology professional development day for high-school teachers. Prepare and present a professional development seminar or workshop on using a high-school-appropriate mathematical software system (such as Graphing Calculator: Pacific Tech, GeoGebra, etc.) in teaching Advanced Mathematics curriculum. Keep a reflective journal that documents your learning. Write a short guide material for participants that will accompany your professional development activities and include references to relevant research in the field.
Details: This task requires three parts:
- Select and become fluent in working with one high-school-appropriate mathematical software system. Identify and develop a series of resources related to use of this system that are suitable to teaching Advanced Mathematics topics.
- Keep a digital journal throughout Semester Two in which you reflect on your learning with the selected software system. Reflect on your selection rationales, strengths as a beginning teacher of Advanced Mathematics, use of technology, areas that you would like to further develop, and your understandings of why continued professional learning is important for your work and as a contributing factor to your positive impact on students’ learning. You must include at least four reflective entries (600-800 words total).
- Plan and deliver a one hour long, technology-focused professional development session or workshop and write a 400-600 word guide material for participants that will accompany your professional development activities and include references to relevant research in the field (two-four references beyond the text). This includes engaging with QAMT to plan a conference day for high school teachers.
APST 1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 5.1, 6.3, 6.4, 7.4
Submission guidelines
This assignment requires a professional development presentation (participatory) as well as an electronic submission of documents (PD handout) via Blackboard.
Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial. The module can be found at: https://www.uq.edu.au/integrity
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Extension can be granted if submission of documents via Blackboard is delayed.
In an event of missed teacher Professional Development event for reasons beyond a student's control, an alternative assessment path will be provided, in person or online, by the course coordinator. Timely communication is essential.
Late submission
A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply for up to 7 days. After 7 days you will receive a mark of 0.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Fails to satisfy all of the basic requirements: submissions which lack appropriate references, relevance, coherence, organisation and length. |
| 2 (Fail) |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Fails to satisfy most of the basic requirements. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: Fails to satisfy some of the basic requirements: submissions which lack appropriate references and relevance, or appropriate coherence, organisation or length. |
| 4 (Pass) |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Satisfies all of the basic requirements: some use of fundamental concepts, (some use of references), basically keeping to the topic; some elaboration of ideas and arguments, some degree of coherence and organisation and appropriate length demonstrates sufficient quality of performance to be considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable with respect to explaining the significance and implications of the topics or their use in classroom situations. |
| 5 (Credit) |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrates ability to use and apply fundamental concepts of the topics, going beyond mere replication of ideas from source material to show understanding and application of key ideas, awareness of their relevance in classroom situations, analysis of implications and drawing of conclusions. |
| 6 (Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrates awareness and understanding of deeper and subtler aspects of the topics, such as identifying and debating critical issues or problems, applying ideas to practical situations in schools and classrooms, and offering insightful commentary, implications and conclusions. |
| 7 (High Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrates imagination, originality or flair, based on comprehensive and complex understanding of the topics, interesting or surprising or exciting or challenging or erudite. |
Additional course grading information
Determining final grades: The individual assessment tasks will be awarded a grade of 1-7, according to assessment-specific marking rubrics. The final grade will be calculated using the weighting and the individual assignment grades as follows:
Example: A student receives the following grades
- Task 1:ﾠgrade of 7ﾠat 30% weighting
- Task 2:ﾠgrade of 5 at 40% weighting
- Task 3:ﾠgrade of 5 at 30% weighting
The final grade for this student taking into accountﾠthe assignments and their weights would be:
- (T1: 0.30 x 7)ﾠ+ (T2: 0.4ﾠx 5) +ﾠ(T3: 0.3ﾠx 5) ﾠ= 2.1ﾠ+ﾠ2ﾠ+ﾠ1.5ﾠﾠ= 5.6; the grade would be rounded to a final grade of a 6.
In the case where the final grade is 0.5 or above, the grade will be rounded up to the nearest whole number (e.g. 5.5 would become 6). In the case where the final grade is 0.49 or below, the grade will be rounded down to the nearest whole number (e.g. 6.49 would become 6).
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
The following applies to all assessments in this course:
- Marking criteria and marking rubrics are available in the 'Assessment' folder in Blackboard for this course.
- Release of assessment item marks and feedback. In addition to the grade awarded, feedback will be provided in a timely manner to enable students to apply the feedback to further tasks within the course or program and/or plan for supplementary assessment, requests for re-mark, or re-enrolment. However, as per UQ Policy and Procedures Library under the Assessment Policy, results for the final assessment item are to be released only after the final grade for the course has been released. Time frames for applications for assessment re-mark are indicated under the Assessment Procedure.
- Re-mark policy. After each assessable item, students will be given the opportunity to view their assessment and so satisfy themselves that a marking or administrative error has not occurred. The formal process of querying a course result (requesting a remark on academic grounds) is set out in the UQ Policy and Procedures Library under the Assessment Procedure.
- Use of AI/MT to support or inform assessment. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance. A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Additional learning resources information
University Library
The University’s Social Sciences and Humanities (SS&H) Library houses an extensive collection of references on the teaching, learning and assessment of mathematics. In addition, the SS&H Curriculum Reserve collectionﾠcontains a wide range of resources to support teaching mathematics in schools (see the list of selected resources below). Mathematics teaching journals, found in the periodical collection in the Library, are also an excellent source of practical ideas and activities for the classroom (see the list of selected journals below). The library’s multimedia section has several collections of videos on mathematics topics taught in the junior and senior school, together with CD-ROMs on teaching and assessment strategies. Resources available on the Internet can also be accessed through terminals in the library.
Professional organisations
Aspiring teachers of mathematics are strongly encouraged to join the Queensland Association of Mathematics Teachers (QAMT; web addressﾠhttp://qamt.qld.edu.au). Membership is FREE for uni students and entitlements include the QAMT journal and newsletter, discounts to workshops and conferences, membership in and the newsletter of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT), and discounted rates on AAMT’s excellent range of print resources and software (available atﾠhttp://www.aamt.edu.au). Online application form available via the QAMT website.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is an AAMT equivalent in the USA, http://nctm.org. Websiteﾠcontains a number of high-quality resources, including free classroom resources (see "Classroom Resources' section), and 2 page research findings summaries on hot/contested topics in mathematics education (see 'Research & Advocacy' section). Membership includes online access to NCTM teacher journals (see 'Publications' section, these tend to become available to libraries with a delay).ﾠOf particular interest are NCTM Illuminations atﾠhttps://illuminations.nctm.org/
Teacher-audience Journals
Note that only some of these are available online. A trip to UQ Library to explore hard copies of teacher-audience issues is well worth the time. See alsoﾠhttp://mathedjournals.wikispaces.comﾠfor longer list and description of mathematics education journals.
- Australian Mathematics Education Journal (by AAMT)
- Australian Mathematics Teacher (by AAMT) - older issues, now in AMEJ
- Australian Senior Mathematics Journal (by AAMT)ﾠ- older issues, now in AMEJ
- Teaching Mathematics (by QAMT - a greatﾠoutlet to start publishing your ideas)
- Mathematics Teacher: Learning and teaching PreK-12 (by NCTM, from 2019)
- Mathematics Teacher (by NCTM, till 2018)
- Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School (by NCTM, till 2018)
- Mathematics in School (by ATM, UK)
Researcher-audience Journals
- Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
- Mathematical Thinking and Learning
- ZDM: Mathematics Education
- Educational Studies in Mathematics
- For the Learning of Mathematics
- Cognition and Instruction
- Mathematics Education Research Journal (MERGA,ﾠhttps://www.merga.net.au/)
- Mathematics Teacher Education and Development (MERGA,ﾠhttps://www.merga.net.au/)
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (24 Feb - 02 Mar) |
Workshop |
Conceptual Understanding in Advanced Mathematics Goals and Aims of the course, course structure overview, curriculum overview |
Multiple weeks From Week 2 To Revision week (first semester) |
Workshop |
Planning and Teaching Module Exploration of resources for teaching. Designing for and planning sequences of instructional activities in AM. |
Multiple weeks From Week 2 To Week 4 |
Workshop |
Conceptual Calculus Module How can we teach calculus and its prerequisites for conceptual understanding? |
Week 5 (24 Mar - 30 Mar) |
Workshop |
Advanced Mathematics Curriculum - Other Topics Focus on some of the key mathematical ideas not addressed in the two focused content modules |
Multiple weeks From Week 6 To Revision week (first semester) |
Workshop |
Conceptual Statistics Module How can we teach statistics, probability, and the prerequisites for conceptual understanding? |
Week 8 (14 Apr - 20 Apr) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Mid-semester Break |
Multiple weeks From Mid-sem break (first semester) To Week 13 |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Break for Professional Experience No classes scheduled while undertaking professional experience (placement) in an accompanying course. |
Multiple weeks From O-Week (second semester) To Week 26 |
Team Based Learning |
Technology professional development project Developing expertise in use of one high-school-appropriate mathematical software system; Designing or adapting classroom mathematical activities within that system for teaching key ideas of AC:MM or AC:SM; Engaging with QAMT with respect to logistics of organising a Technology Professional Development Day in October. |
Multiple weeks From Week 16 To Week 21 |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Break for Professional Experience No classes scheduled while undertaking professional experience (placement) in an accompanying course. |
Mid-sem break (second semester) (29 Sep - 05 Oct) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Mid-semester Break |
Multiple weeks From Week 25 To Week 26 |
Workshop |
Technology Professional Development (TPD) Day Trial TPD presentations and constructive feedback session, TPD Day presentations and networking with practicing teachers (to take place on Friday night or Saturday 24/25 October or 31 October/1 Nov) |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.