Secondary mathematics education in the age of STEM: Tensions and possibilities for policy and practice in NSW

Martin, Jane Leigh

Secondary mathematics education in the age of STEM: Tensions and possibilities for policy and practice in NSW

Martin, Jane Leigh

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2021

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Martin, Jane Leigh
dc.date.accessioned	2021-11-05T04:26:06Z
dc.date.available	2021-11-05T04:26:06Z
dc.date.issued	2021
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151367
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	In models of integrated learning commonly promoted in STEM education policies worldwide, mathematical learning often appears limited to process-driven applications with little scope for conceptual development. Given the aim of such policies to improve mathematics achievement and ambition of secondary students, an emerging research literature questions this ambiguous role of mathematics. Focusing explicitly on mathematics, this study explores this tension by investigating the landscape of STEM education in NSW secondary schools that developed pursuant to the introduction of strategies promoting integrated STEM. Insights into the perspectives, understandings and experiences of major stakeholders involved in secondary mathematics education were gained using a mixed methods approach. Analysis confirmed previous research findings, including a confused understanding of integrated STEM education in the secondary school environment and a lack of focus on mathematics. Mathematics content in implemented programs was limited in quantity and scope, and curriculum documents difficult to align and reconcile. This study questions the implementation assumptions of integrated STEM models, suggesting that they are ill-suited to discipline-specific education structures and inadequate to support a robust learning of mathematics. Nevertheless, mathematics teachers recognised the benefits of the connected learning approach of STEM and sought to develop these approaches in the classroom.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/151367/2/02whole.pdf
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/ppc
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title	Secondary mathematics education in the age of STEM: Tensions and possibilities for policy and practice in NSW	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

In models of integrated learning commonly promoted in STEM education policies worldwide, mathematical learning often appears limited to process-driven applications with little scope for conceptual development. Given the aim of such policies to improve mathematics achievement and ambition of secondary students, an emerging research literature questions this ambiguous role of mathematics. Focusing explicitly on mathematics, this study explores this tension by investigating the landscape of STEM education in NSW secondary schools that developed pursuant to the introduction of strategies promoting integrated STEM. Insights into the perspectives, understandings and experiences of major stakeholders involved in secondary mathematics education were gained using a mixed methods approach. Analysis confirmed previous research findings, including a confused understanding of integrated STEM education in the secondary school environment and a lack of focus on mathematics. Mathematics content in implemented programs was limited in quantity and scope, and curriculum documents difficult to align and reconcile. This study questions the implementation assumptions of integrated STEM models, suggesting that they are ill-suited to discipline-specific education structures and inadequate to support a robust learning of mathematics. Nevertheless, mathematics teachers recognised the benefits of the connected learning approach of STEM and sought to develop these approaches in the classroom.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151367