Professional Documents
Culture Documents
UNIT 2
CHAPTER 4
OUTCOMES
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
1. discuss the emphasis and focus of mathematics school curriculum; and
2. discuss the relationship between mathematics curriculum and assessment.
4.1
CURRICULUM EVALUATION
School curriculum changes inevitably with advances in learning and teaching theories
and rapid growth of information technology. New curricula developed and implemented
consequently need to be assessed whether these new curricula are being effectively
implemented and whether they are meeting the needs of students. Curriculum
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evaluation, at the national level, involves making judgments about the effectiveness of
set curricula. However curriculum evaluation at the classroom level may provide
information to the effectiveness of specific content of the curriculum based on
summative assessment conducted in the classroom.
In general, curriculum assessment involves gathering information and making decisions
based on the information collected, to determine how well the curriculum is performing.
The principal reason for curriculum evaluation is to plan improvements to the
curriculum. Such improvements might involve changes to the curriculum document and/
or the provision of resources or in-service program to teachers.
Curriculum evaluation tasks should be a shared and as collaborative effort involving
all major education partners in the country. In Malaysia for instance, the Malaysian
Examination Syndicate, various agencies from the Ministry of Education, teachers, and
experts may be involved to design and construct assessment instruments, validate,
field test, provide scoring, and interpret data. This task requires the cooperation of
school divisions and school boards for the successful operation of the program.
In the assessment phase, information will be gathered from students, teachers, and
administrators. The information obtained will indicate the degree to which the curriculum
is being implemented, the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum, and the
problems encountered in teaching it. The information from students will indicate how
well they are achieving the intended learning outcomes and will provide indications about
their attitudes toward the curriculum.
Student information will be gathered through the use of a variety of strategies including
observations, performance tests (hands-on), paper-and-pencil tests (objective and
open-response), interviews, and surveys.
The information collected during the assessment phase will be examined, and
recommendations which are generated by a panel, will address areas in which
improvements can be made. These recommendations will be forwarded to the
appropriate authorities such as the Curriculum and Instruction Division, school divisions
and schools, universities, and educational organizations in the country.
4.2
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To promote confidence and competence with numbers and their application in money and
measurement.
To develop the ability to solve problems through decision making and reasoning in a range of
contexts.
To develop practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented.
The first set of mathematical objects considered in the curriculum is number and
quantity. Indeed, elementary mathematics is largely about these objects, and the
operations we carry out with and on them.
(a) Number/Quantity
complex numbers
Along with number and quantity elementary mathematics includes shape and space.
(b) Shape/Space
In addition, students are to be made aware of pattern in the worlds of number and
shape. This leads to develop the idea of pattern as a mathematical object which
matures into function. This is the central mathematical object of the topics algebra
and calculus.
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(c) Function/Pattern
functions on shapes
There are several other mathematical topics that have less prominent roles in the elementary
mathematics. The most important among them are:
(d) Chance/Data
discrete and continuous data (Some aspects of data collection, organization and
presentation can be done in the earliest grades but little, if any, data analysis; notions
of probability are not realistically addressable until late middle school.)
Why does chance or data topic play a less prominent role in elementary
mathematics?
modeling/formulating
transforming/manipulating
inferring/drawing conclusions
communicating
4.3
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1.
Know and understand mathematical concepts, definitions, laws, principles and theorems related
to numbers, shapes and relationships.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Use mathematical knowledge and skills in problem solving and making decisions.
6.
7.
Use technology to build the understanding of concepts, acquire skills, solve problems and
explore mathematics.
8.
9.
10.
The organization of the school mathematics curriculum is based on three major areas
in mathematics. This is illustrated in Table 4.1.
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Three Major
Areas in
Mathematics
Numbers
Relationship
Description
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4.4
With the specified mathematics curricula, educators and specifically teachers were to
undertake the task of delivering mathematics instruction. The guiding principles below will be
the curriculum objectives as specified by policy makers namely:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Use mathematical knowledge and skills in problem solving and making decisions,
6.
7.
Use technology to build the understanding of concepts, acquire skills, solve problems
and explore mathematics,
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8.
9.
Assessment of mathematical performance then can take place in the form of formative or
summative assessment. Results of the assessment can be used in different ways but most
critically is to improve classrooms instruction. Much too readily assumed is that the content
of the mathematics curriculum that is taught will be made to match what appears in
standardized or non-standardized tests. Mathematics assessment thus serve both summative
and formative functions. On occasions it also provides early insights into students difficulties,
errors and misconceptions.
Assessment should truly reflects the curriculum in all its different facets of content and approach
and do not over-emphasize one aspect of mathematics, say number, to the detriment of
others, such as shape and space, or algebra. Accurate teacher assessment can be achieved
only if it is informed by knowledge and awareness of children of mathematical performance
over a period of time involving both informal and formal assessment procedures. In recent
years greater emphasis has been placed upon informal assessment of children in a normal
class-room environment. Teacher observation of children working on mathematical activities,
and discussing with other children the methods they could use and the outcomes achieved,
has been a substantial contributory factor in the overall assessment of children in primary
schools. This approach, whilst considered to be manageable in the context of classroom
organization, has major disadvantages. It not only relies on teachers having the expertise to
recognize appropriate behavior worthy of accreditation towards a grade or level, but requires
that they identify it when it occurs in what often is a learning experience for the children.
Observation of children is usually supported by teachers building up, for each child, a portfolio
of work which is representative of their normal performance. A portfolio is a collection of
childrens work which may include pages of calculations, assignments, projects and
investigations, as well as reports of mathematical activities which have been completed as
part of a childs normal classroom experiences. Reliable assessment of children requires
evidence that children can perform consistently at different times and in a variety of contexts.
If portfolios are used to assist teachers in their assessment, then it is essential that criteria be
established which enable teachers to select work which accurately represents childrens
normal performance. It is all too easy to be exited by a very good piece of work produced by
a child and include it in a portfolio when the work, for that child, is extraordinary and not truly
representative.
In the British education system, a view of mathematics has emerged that is mathematics is
a process as well as subject content, and that learning mathematics must involve learning
or experiencing the processes of mathematics. The processes in this context include the
selection, assembly, and application of knowledge and skills appropriate to the situation or
task. Thus basically, it is suggested that learning mathematics should involve investigating
and solving non-routine problems in mathematics. This in turn allows development of process
skills such as conjecturing, collecting data, analyzing, generalizing and proving.
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SUMMARY
This chapter discusses the emphasis and focus of mathematics school curriculum and
the relationship between mathematics curriculum and assessment. Among the topics
discussed were evaluation of mathematics curriculum and additional mathematics
curriculum.
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