Cambridge Lower Secondary Mathematics Learner 39;s Book 7

[Shima Costar]

Thinkingand Working Mathematically (TWM) is a unique feature of our Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary Mathematics programme. The process of thinking and working mathematically encourages learners to talk with others, challenge ideas and to provide evidence that validates conjectures and solutions. When learners are thinking and working mathematically, they actively seek to make sense of ideas and build connections between different mathematics facts, procedures and concepts. This supports higher order thinking that assists learners in viewing the world in a mathematical way.

When learners are thinking and working mathematically, they actively engage with their learning of mathematics, seeking to make sense of ideas and building connections between different facts, procedures and concepts. Other learners simply follow and carry out processes that they have been shown how to do, without appreciating why they work or what the results mean. Thinking and Working Mathematically can be stimulated by mathematical inconsistencies, patterns or particular representations, and can be improved through practice, reflection and questioning.

Up until 2020,problem solving was a separate strand in the Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary mathematics curriculum. We knew this was problematic as teachers did not appreciate the integrated nature of problem solving because they taught it separately to the other content strands: Number, Geometry, Measure, Data Handling and Algebra.

We wanted to raise the profile of problem solving in our curriculum, our teaching activities, our training, and in our assessments. Although our Progression Tests and Checkpoint assessments in 2016 included problem solving questions, we did not provide reports on these questions that learners answered. So, we were concerned that teachers might not make problem solving a priority.

We enlisted the help of Cambridge Mathematics (our mathematics research partner) to make sure that the mathematics content was current and based on the latest research. Dr Melise Camargo and I then reviewed the mathematics content to align it to our Cambridge IGCSE and O Level mathematics syllabuses. From this we produced a progression grid from Stages 1 to 9 including an exemplification of each learning objective. You can find this on our primary and lower secondary support sites.

It was my pleasure to meet Professor John Mason (Oxford University) in person to discuss his book on Thinking Mathematically (1982) as this had inspired my ideas about integrating a version of Thinking Mathematically within our curriculum.

There are some engaging teaching activities in our Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary Schemes of Work. If you are a registered Cambridge school you can find the Schemes of Work on our primary and lower secondary support sites.

The TWM mathematics characteristics are an exciting and unique feature to the new mathematics curriculum frameworks and our endorsed resources. Our endorsed publishers for our mathematics programme include Thinking and Working Mathematically activities in their resources and also indicate TWM using our star.

Many people were involved in the development of Thinking and Working Mathematically within the Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary mathematics programme. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contributions:

3a8082e126