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Year 8 mathematics students may not be challenged enough The findings of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study suggest that Australian mathematics teachers may be underestimating the ability of Year 8 students and not challenging them enough in class. This finding is among those contained in the new report, Teaching Mathematics in Australia , released on 9 July. The report provides an Australian-focused analysis and discussion of the results from the international study, Teaching Mathematics in Seven Countries: Results from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study , which was released in Washington in March. The international report studied 638 randomly selected eighth-grade lessons in Australia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. Lessons were videotaped for analysis and comparison across the countries involved to investigate similarities and differences in teaching practices. studied mathematics lessons in the seven countries. No single best method of teaching eighth-grade mathematics in high achieving countries was identified. Rather the report found that each country shared some general features of eighth-grade mathematics teaching. However, each country combined and emphasised instructional features in various ways, sometimes differently from all the other countries, and sometimes similarly to some countries. A typical Australian lesson began with a review of previously learned content (an average of 36 per cent of lesson time), followed by the introduction of new content (30 per cent of lesson time), and the practising of this new content (26 per cent of lesson time). The new Australian report, written by Hilary Hollingsworth with ACER researchers Barry McCrae and Jan Lokan, examined videotapes of 87 randomly selected Year 8 mathematics classes from around Australia. Australia was found to have a significantly higher percentage of problems that students worked on for a very short time (less than 45 seconds) than was the case in higher-performing countries. More than three-quarters of problems set for Australian students to do per lesson were repetitions of one or more problems they had done earlier in the lesson, and a similar proportion could be solved in four or fewer small steps. The report also notes that Australian teachers very rarely (two per cent of problems per lesson) made explicit the mathematical relationships and connections involved in problems when they discussed them with their classes. Instead, they were generally satisfied with students giving answers only, or simply stating the procedures used to solve the problems. There were indications also that the curricular level of the Australian Year 8 mathematics lessons, particularly the algebra content, was lower than in most of the other six countries that took part in the study. Australian students perform well in international mathematics studies. The report's findings suggest that with more exposure to more challenging material, at all levels but particularly in classes of more able students, it seems likely that Australia would perform even better. Nevertheless, one of the report's authors, Dr Hilary Hollingsworth, says there is no reason for Australian Year 8 mathematics teaching practices to be abandoned in favour of adopting methods used somewhere else. However, there are some strong threads running through the study's findings that indicate that some overhaul of Year 8 mathematics teaching in Australia is warranted. "Australian students would benefit from more exposure to less repetitive, higher-level problems, more discussion of alternative solutions and the mathematical reasoning involved in the solutions, and more opportunity to explain their thinking," she said. The international study was conducted by LessonLab Inc., for the US National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES). ACER completed the Australian component of the study with funding from the Commonwealth, states and territories. ACER conducted the Australian component of the study with funding from the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, and the U.S. National Centre for Education Statistics. Download Teaching Mathematics in Australia by Dr Hilary Hollingsworth, Dr Jan Lokan and Associate Professor Barry McCrae. Print copies of the report, which include a CD-ROM containing eight of the lesson videos (four from Australia, and one each from the Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan and the Netherlands), can be purchased from ACER Shop. Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or phone (03) 9277 5447. « Back to eNews
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The findings of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study suggest that Australian mathematics teachers may be underestimating the ability of Year 8 students and not challenging them enough in class.

This finding is among those contained in the new report, Teaching Mathematics in Australia , released on 9 July. The report provides an Australian-focused analysis and discussion of the results from the international study, Teaching Mathematics in Seven Countries: Results from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study , which was released in Washington in March.

The international report studied 638 randomly selected eighth-grade lessons in Australia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. Lessons were videotaped for analysis and comparison across the countries involved to investigate similarities and differences in teaching practices. studied mathematics lessons in the seven countries.

No single best method of teaching eighth-grade mathematics in high achieving countries was identified. Rather the report found that each country shared some general features of eighth-grade mathematics teaching. However, each country combined and emphasised instructional features in various ways, sometimes differently from all the other countries, and sometimes similarly to some countries.

A typical Australian lesson began with a review of previously learned content (an average of 36 per cent of lesson time), followed by the introduction of new content (30 per cent of lesson time), and the practising of this new content (26 per cent of lesson time).

The new Australian report, written by Hilary Hollingsworth with ACER researchers Barry McCrae and Jan Lokan, examined videotapes of 87 randomly selected Year 8 mathematics classes from around Australia.

Australia was found to have a significantly higher percentage of problems that students worked on for a very short time (less than 45 seconds) than was the case in higher-performing countries. More than three-quarters of problems set for Australian students to do per lesson were repetitions of one or more problems they had done earlier in the lesson, and a similar proportion could be solved in four or fewer small steps.

The report also notes that Australian teachers very rarely (two per cent of problems per lesson) made explicit the mathematical relationships and connections involved in problems when they discussed them with their classes. Instead, they were generally satisfied with students giving answers only, or simply stating the procedures used to solve the problems.

There were indications also that the curricular level of the Australian Year 8 mathematics lessons, particularly the algebra content, was lower than in most of the other six countries that took part in the study.

Australian students perform well in international mathematics studies. The report's findings suggest that with more exposure to more challenging material, at all levels but particularly in classes of more able students, it seems likely that Australia would perform even better.

Nevertheless, one of the report's authors, Dr Hilary Hollingsworth, says there is no reason for Australian Year 8 mathematics teaching practices to be abandoned in favour of adopting methods used somewhere else. However, there are some strong threads running through the study's findings that indicate that some overhaul of Year 8 mathematics teaching in Australia is warranted.

"Australian students would benefit from more exposure to less repetitive, higher-level problems, more discussion of alternative solutions and the mathematical reasoning involved in the solutions, and more opportunity to explain their thinking," she said.

The international study was conducted by LessonLab Inc., for the US National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES). ACER completed the Australian component of the study with funding from the Commonwealth, states and territories.

ACER conducted the Australian component of the study with funding from the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, and the U.S. National Centre for Education Statistics.

Download Teaching Mathematics in Australia by Dr Hilary Hollingsworth, Dr Jan Lokan and Associate Professor Barry McCrae.

Print copies of the report, which include a CD-ROM containing eight of the lesson videos (four from Australia, and one each from the Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan and the Netherlands), can be purchased from ACER Shop.
Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or phone (03) 9277 5447.

Year 8 mathematics students may not be challenged enough