Edition 17:11: New Primary Resources page | Maths Talent Quest 2017 | 2018 Membership

This email contains graphics. If you don't see them, view it in your browser.

 
I recently had the honour of being MC for the Maths Talent Quest (MTQ). It was great to see nearly 1000 teachers, students and parents attend the ceremony. Presenting awards for Prep to year 12 was a great opportunity to recognise the students, schools and teachers doing amazing things in maths. Read more below about this event and I hope to see more schools join up next year.

The Annual Conference is now booking fast, and with such a great program this year some sessions are already full. Book now to ensure your preferred keynote and session selections.

MAV Council had its annual planning day recently. Time was spent looking at two areas; Building the detail behind the new Strategic Plan that is close to finalisation. The 2018 to 2020 Strategic Plan will be launched in early 2018 and will build on MAV’s strengths, focusing activities in some areas of need. Also covered on the day was risk with the Council strengthening its governance in this area. It was a great day for all who attended.

And don’t forget that it is time to renew your membership. To ensure you continue to receive your member benefits into 2018 join or renew now.

Regards,

Peter Saffin
CEO

Share

MAV17 Conference
Synopsis now available

MAV Launches new Primary Resources support web page

With the support of the Department of Education and Training using Strategic Partnership Program funding, MAV have launched a new Primary Resources section on its website.

These pages offer a range of useful and relevant links, resources and activities that can be used to engage, extend and enhance student learning.

There is also information and opportunities that will help you, the teacher, develop professional knowledge and experience.

Check it out here.

Maths Talent Quest 2017

On the Thursday 19th October MAV President, Michaela Epstein, and I had the pleasure of presenting the Maths Talent Quest Awards (MTQ) to students from prep to year 12. The National and State awards were attended by nearly 1000 students, teachers and parents.

The MAV congratulates all the award winners, there are too many to list here so State and National winners are available on the MTQ webpage. In 2017 the Victoria State MTQ received over 670 investigations from Victoria, Tasmania and Northern Territory. Each investigation was judged three times by volunteer judges. That is a huge task for which we thank all those who undertook judging. Awards were given for individual, group projects and class projects at each level and it was amazing to hear the variety of projects completed in areas of student interest. The MTQ provides an opportunity for students to undertake projects in mathematics that develop skills such as problem solving, creative and critical thinking, communication and team work in their pursuit of mathematical investigations.

We would also like to especially acknowledge two mathematics educators who received ‘Outstanding Service Awards’ for the work over many years on the MTQ. Steve Wilson of Carey Baptist Grammar School and June Penny have both contributed enormously to the awards for over 25 years. Steve was a founder of the awards, and June and Steve have been actively involved in the MTQ as judges, running MTQ in school, and as promotors and organisers of the awards. Well done to you both!

Felstead Education also gave the audience a very entertaining preview of The Maths Show, which is sponsored by MAV. (See photo)

Finally, MAV would like to thank the major sponsor, La Trobe University who provided the venue and much support for the awards judging and ceremony. Without La Trobe this significant event would not be possible.

The dates for the 2018 MTQ are available now.

In-School consulting for 2018

We are currently booking in schools that require support in 2018, most of whom are continuing after their great progress made in 2017. If you are interested in support let us know now so that we can discuss your needs and schedule you in. Consultants can focus on supporting your FISO goal implementation. Our coaching and mentoring demonstrates and uses the High Impact Teaching Strategies, enabling your school to work towards meeting the Education State targets. We tailor our support to your needs.

To find out more about what we can do click here. Contact Jen Bowden at jbowden@mav.vic.edu.au to organise a discussion.

2018 MAV Membership, don’t delay!

We need your support to ensure that MAV can continue to prosper and deliver important services for maths educators!

Our Association has over 1400 members from all sectors of education and provides membership benefits to a growing network of over 13,500 mathematics educators. Be a part of it!

Renewals

You will have received your 2018 membership renewal notice. Thank you to those who have renewed, we have had a great response so far.

For those who renew their membership before the MAV17 Annual Conference held on the 7^th and 8^th of December, you will go into the draw for gift vouchers to the value of $150 for third, $300 second, and $400 first prize which entitle yourself or your school to purchase publications from the MAVshop.

For support with your renewal contact Michael Green mgreen@mav.vic.edu.au

Join now

If you are thinking of joining MAV, the time is right! MAV is going from strength to strength. We need your support to ensure that MAV can continue to prosper and deliver important services for maths educators! Access a full year of benefits in 2018.

We need schools, and individuals to sign up now at our membership page.

For more information contact Michael Green mgreen@mav.vic.edu.au.

MAV17 Annual Conference

MAVshop will be back at conference, bigger and better than ever. Don’t forget to organise your purchase order ready to take home a bargain, or grab the latest and greatest resources.

Professional Reading

Debunking common and harmful misconceptions about mathematics

Professor Kate Smith-Miles, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow and President of the Australian Mathematical Society gives a talk aiming to debunk some of the common and harmful misconceptions about mathematics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgsDI2CaRg4.

Transition

Mathematics and the transition from primary to secondary school, Catherine Attard.

Back to top

Survey for year 7 teachers

As part of her Monash University research, Christine Lenghaus, a Mathematics teacher, is researching Victorian Year 7 Mathematics Teachers' Experiences and Needs in Supporting Students Below Grade Level. If you have taught or are currently teaching Year 7, would you please support this research by completing a 7 minute survey by clicking the link below.

Maths Anxiety project

Researchers at ACER are developing a professional learning program to pilot in 2018 that will help teachers address their own or their students’ maths anxiety using research-based strategies from education, psychology and neuroscience. Teachers who participate will develop a greater understanding of maths anxiety and how it impacts student achievement and teaching practices. They will learn different strategies for reducing their own maths anxiety and for supporting students or colleagues who experience maths anxiety. The program is free because it is part of a pilot research project meaning participating teachers gain high-quality professional learning hours free of charge. The pilot will involve the participation of three or four of each school’s Grade 3-6 teachers, their students and the maths coordinator/specialist.

For more information click here or email: mathsanxiety@acer.org

Back to top

Other news and events

Want to help kids develop as creative thinkers?

Join a new online course and community designed by the creators of Scratch. Learn more.

Emerging Sciences Victoria

Emerging Sciences Victoria (ESV) is a virtual interactive classroom, providing a unique opportunity for Year 9 and 10 students to study contemporary STEM subjects. Encourage your students to explore curriculum outside of the typical classroom. ESV offers classes in Frontiers of Physics (Astrophysics), Nature and Beauty of Mathematics, Biotechnology, Neuroscience, Earth Sciences and Nanotechnology. Students in the Nature and Beauty of Maths will examine 4-dimensional tesseracts, hyperbolic space and hotels with an infinite number of rooms.

Classes run for one hour, twice a week over 15 weeks.   Students can study as an individual, in groups or classes and all assessment and reporting is completed by ESV staff.   Registrations for Semester One, 2018 are open now. Ask for a course overview or register your school now.

For more information: www.emsci.vic.edu.au.

Making links and breaking codes: A public lecture to celebrate the centenary of mathematician Bill Tutte

Speaker: Professor Graham Farr, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University.

Tues 5 Dec 2017, 7pm, in South 1 lecture theatre, 43 Rainforest Walk, Clayton campus, Monash University.

William (Bill) Tutte (1917-2002) became a research mathematician while still an undergraduate at Cambridge in the late 1930s, broke the toughest Nazi codes while at Bletchley Park in the Second World War, and became one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century.  His wartime work sparked the secret construction of Colossus, one of the first-ever computers, and saved countless lives.  After the war, he led the development of the mathematics of networks, known as Graph Theory.  His work was usually inspired by pure curiosity or entertaining puzzles, but has been applied in domains as diverse as electrical circuits, statistical physics and information visualisation.  This talk tells the story of Tutte's life, mathematics and code-breaking to a broad audience.

Attendance is free and open to anyone.  No booking is required.  This public lecture is being held in association with the 5th International Combinatorics Conference (5ICC, http://www.monash.edu/5icc/), and forms part of a worldwide programme of events to mark the centenary of Tutte's birth,  http://billtuttememorial.org.uk/centenary/.

For further information, see: http://www.monash.edu/5icc/publiclecture.html.

Mathematical Modelling in your Browser, Free!

GXWeb is a new, free browser based version of the mathematical modelling tool Geometry Expressions. Geometry Expressions lets you express problems geometrically and extract algebra from the model. You can then solve the algebraic model and explore the implications of your solution visually.

Check it out now! www.geometryexpressions.com

Wolfram Support

The following blogs and papers may be of interest to maths leaders teachers and students, in particular with respect to computational thinking, AI, machine learning and the like.  The full suite can be accessed here.

The sample computations can be played with using Wolfram Open Cloud or via the DET licenses available to all Victorian secondary schools teachers and students.

• How to teach computational thinking
• Machine learning for middle schoolers
• Two hours of experimental mathematics
• An introduction to Wolfram Language
• A range of project based work

MAVshop

CLEARANCE SALE

Limited stock is available for the MAV Solutions to the VCAA Exams from 2008-2014. MAV is selling the CDs at much reduced prices ranging from as low as $5 to $20.

For examples click here, and see the MAVshop for the full range:

• 2014 Specialist Maths
• 2014 Maths Methods
• 2014 Further Maths
  

Challenging Mathematical Tasks

Author: Peter Sullivan

Challenging Mathematical Tasks supports the idea that students learn best when they work on problems that they do not yet know how to solve. Peter Sullivan’s research shows that many students do not fear challenges in mathematics, but welcome them. And rather than having teachers instruct them, these students prefer to work out solutions for themselves.

• includes activities that allow for sustained thinking, decision-making and risk-taking by the student
• features a ‘Learning Focus’, ‘Key Mathematical Language’, ’Pedagogical Considerations’, ‘Enabling and Extending Prompts’ for each task, plus ‘Supplementary Tasks’ and ‘Possible Solutions’
• is written by a well-established expert in the field of teaching and learning mathematics
• follows a set structure to help students approach and work through the tasks.

Click to get yours now.
 

Author: Peter Sullivan

Open-Ended Maths Activities discusses the features of ‘good’ mathematical questions. It provides practical advice on how teachers can create their own open-ended and problem-solving questions, and use them effectively in the classroom.

• includes over 80 pages of ‘good’ questions for teachers to use in the classroom
• organises questions into content areas (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, Statistics and Probability)
• indicates the suggested age level of students for each question
• is written by a well-established expert in the field of teaching and learning mathematics, and an experienced author with a primary teaching background.

What are you waiting for? Click me.

MAVlist is an official communication of The Mathematical Association of Victoria. If you would like to advertise here or have maths education news that you would like included, email submissions to psaffin@mav.vic.edu.au. Note that inclusions are at the discretion of the editor.

Not interested any more? Unsubscribe