Consumer Arithmetic Nsw Syllabus

Kristy Nardelli: Assignment 3

My group’s webquest 'Home buying on a budget' focuses its teaching approach on group work. We used this focus to enable the students to have a few different outlooks on the project at hand, helping to mirror the real word situation and address a Connectedness (Quality Teaching model). It was also optimal to use group work as the problem to solve was very involved. "Group work can be a useful way of giving students an opportunity to work on a realistic task that is too complex or too large to be undertaken by individuals" (Killen, 2009, P188) These two curriculum outcomes were the basis for our web quest. Our idea was to show the students why these two outcomes are important and relevant in every day society. Our aim is supported by the material by the students being able to research the relevant information to allow them to gain a sense of what consumer arithmetic is all about. The outcomes would be covered in depth in the classroom before this webquest is used to show students how the outcomes could be used in real world applications. Working with technology will help the students to see that by having the knowledge these two outcomes present, you will be able to make an informed decision once the time comes to use consumer arithmetic. The web quest is aimed to empower the students to see that maths is not always about abstract ideas. For mathematics teaching relevance is a large part of what the students need to succeed. Connectedness encompasses our webquest. The webquest uses real world applications that a lot of the students will use when they are ready to buy a home. Allowing Student direction, they are asked to find a job on the Domain website, asked to calculate a budget, they choose a home loan and then they choose a house they would like to buy. All of these activities are connected to the real world. It helps to show the students that the things they are learning in maths will definitely come in handy! The webquest task allows the students to direct the task, by allowing them the opportunity to choose from a lot of different options to arrive at unique answers among the groups. Inclusivity is also in our task as it is completed in groups so it helps the students to feel included. This also allowed the students to assess each other’s abilities and work to one another's strengths.

The Australian mathematics teacher

Consumer arithmetic, mathematics years 9/10 intermediate course

Leaks in the pipeline to math, science, and technology careers

Australian national bibliography

British books in print