AAMT e-news

for the Australian mathematics education community

15 December 2015

AAMT is turning 50!

2016 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of AAMT. The centrepiece of the celebrations will be a conference to be held in Adelaide on 7–8 July. The theme will be exploring the voice of practitioners in guiding directions in school mathematics – past, present and future.

Other plans to mark the occasion include AAMT having a presence at Affiliates’ conferences, and some special publications.

Please help celebrate this special year in your association’s history – more details later.

International Mathematical Modelling Challenge

The IM2C is new to Australia for 2016. It provides an opportunity for senior students to work in teams on a challenging modelling problem over 5 days (17 March – 23 April). For more information, go to www.immchallenge.org or contact australia@immchallenge.org.

National STEM School Education Strategy

Last week the Education Council (includes all Ministers of Education) endorsed the National STEM School Education Strategy. You can download a copy from www.educationcouncil.edu.au/EC-Reports-and-Publications.aspx.

Work opportunities for 2016

AAMT is seeking two more Implementation Officers to support the work of the TEMPEST project. The positions will cover New South Wales and the ACT, and Queensland. The starting date will be at, or before, the end of Term 1 2016. Details following soon.

Education Perfect Proficiency Week

Schools are invited to take part in free diagnostic proficiency testing from 22–26 February 2016 in English, Maths, Science and languages.

The online tests will provide a snapshot of what students already know. Tests will be automatically marked and teachers will be instantly provided with diagnostic data of student and class results, highlighting areas of strengths and weaknesses.

Access is free during that week and the following week in order to provide teachers with the opportunity to assign recommended intervention tasks for their students should they wish to do so. If schools would like continued access to Education Perfect after the follow-up week, they will have the option to subscribe their students immediately.

To register your school, go to http://worldseries.educationperfect.com/register-for-proficiency-week.html.

Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnerships Project

The Asia Education Foundation has opened applications for Australian primary and secondary schools to sign up for a partnership project with schools in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam.

Applications for schools close Sunday 14 February 2016.

For further information and to apply go to:

[for Indonesia] http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/programmes/school-partnerships/participating-countries/indonesia

[for other countries] http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/programmes/school-partnerships/participating-countries/asean

From the recent AAMT Council meeting

AAMT Council met on Saturday 5 December. Matters that will be of interest to members include:

Matt Skoss (NT) has won the position as Manager – Engagement for the Mathematics by Inquiry project. Matt is well known around the country as an innovative educator with great skills in working with teachers. He will commence duties on 1 February, working from the AAMT Offices in Adelaide.
Council has asked the AAMT office to implement a plan for increased personalised and purposeful electronic communication with members. Look out for informative communications when you renew your membership from the start of 2016.
Two new Position Papers were endorsed and will be published early in 2016: Girls and Mathematics and Promoting Positive Attitudes to Mathematics.

[featured resource] Adam Spencer's World of Numbers

Almost 400 full-colour pages crammed with facts, observations and investigations about numbers. From the serious (Avogadro’s number and atomic mass units) to the intriguing (the highest ever score for a single word in a Scrabble game) to the downright hilarious (345 is the average number of squirts from a cow’s udder to yield a US gallon of milk), this is a book to dip into for pleasure and knowledge.

#NSB001 $30.00 * AAMT members: $37.50 *

www.aamt.edu.au/Webshop/Entire-catalogue/Adam-Spencer-s-World-of-Numbers