Conference synopsis_FINAL_20260815 - Flipbook - Page 113
F17 MAKING SECONDARY ALGEBRA
ACCESSIBLE THROUGH MULTIPLE
REPRESENTATIONS
Sub-category: Mathematical content and concepts
Tara Richardson and Jia Gong, Greater Shepparton
Secondary College
Y5 - Y10
At Greater Shepparton Secondary College, we aim to
develop creative, curious and caring learners who actively
contribute to making a better world. In this presentation,
I will show how we have made secondary mathematics,
in particular Year 7 and 8 algebra, more accessible and
effective for students. We use concrete, pictorial and abstract
representations, with a strong emphasis on destigmatising
the use of manipulatives. Bar models and algebra tiles
are key instructional tools. Our goal is to enable students
to access content as close to year-level expectations as
possible through the use of manipulatives (doing) and visual
representations (seeing). We have found increased student
engagement, achievement and confidence as a result of these
approaches.
recognise the benefits of offloading to support problemsolving from an early age, but that individual differences
in cognitive skills and instructional guidance influence
how strategically they adapt these strategies to changing
task demands. Situated within the broader metacognition
literature, the session provides evidence-based insights into
children’s use of cognitive offloading in mathematics and
discusses practical approaches for supporting its effective use
in the classroom.
Key takeaways:
1. Children can often evaluate task demands accurately;
however, a greater use of offloading under increased difficulty
emerges gradually in late childhood.
2. The use and benefits of offloading strategies are
influenced by individual differences.
3. Scaffolding children’s use of offloading strategies
may improve mathematics performance and conceptual
understanding.
Key takeaways:
F19 CONSTRUCTING PURPOSEFUL SAC FOR
FOUNDATION MATHEMATICS
1. The importance of linking linear algebra back to number.
Sub-category: Planning
2. How to make secondary maths more accessible and
inclusive.
Leonie Paatsch, Footscray High School
Y11 - Y12
3. How to help students have more success in secondary
maths.
Unlike traditional maths testing, SACs for students of VCE
Foundation Maths are in the form of extended mathematical
investigations. This workshop will look at the challenges
of the study design and the requirements for SACs,
showing how to use a scaffolded research process to create
meaningful, achievable tasks that can be mapped to the
assessment rubric. Using these guidelines, participants will
then collaborate to compile ideas and outlines that can be
later developed into robust assessment tasks.
F18 THE USE AND BENEFITS OF COGNITIVE
OFFLOADING STRATEGIES IN MATHEMATICS
Sub-category: Mathematical content and concepts
Sarah Podwinski, The University of Melbourne
F - Y6
Children routinely rely on external supports in mathematics,
from counting on their fingers to physically rearranging
problem materials, but little is known about whether they use
them to strategically offload cognitive demands. Because
mathematics places substantial demands on children’s
developing working memory, understanding when and
how strategic cognitive offloading develops may reveal
new ways to improve mathematics learning. Drawing on
original data, this session explores how children aged 7-13
use cognitive offloading strategies during complex addition
and counterintuitive fraction tasks. We show that children
Key takeaways:
1. Understanding the assessment element of the Foundation
Maths study design.
2. Applying the research process to mathematical
investigations.
3. Constructing SACs that align with student needs and
interests.
