Professional Inquiries (2016)
Frances Gasson
“In my hands I can tell my words properly”: This inquiry investigates the use of sign language to facilitate mathematical talk and reveal mathematical thinking within communities of mathematical inquiry.
Mary-Anne Judd
A whānau perspective: This inquiry uses a Kaupapa Maori research approach to investigate how whanau and teachers can engage productively together to support mathematical learning for under-achieving learners.
Jo Knox
Am I “good” at maths? This study examines what factors serve to shape students’ perceptions of what being “good” at mathematics means and how these factors may contribute towards students’ self-efficacies and mindsets in mathematics.
Professional Inquiries (2017)
Leo Frank
Leadership approaches that support primary teachers to use a problem solving approach for mathematics.
Lisa Heap
Professional learning post-formal professional development.
Jessica MacCarthy
Primary school students’ experiences of mathematics.
Professional Inquiries (2018)
Melissa Absolum
Teacher actions that position students to successfully participate in mathematical inquiry communities
Melissa Coton
Factors that struggling students identify as supporting them to re-engage (or ‘positively engage’) with mathematics learning
Louise Fitzgerald
Changes in teachers’ beliefs about grouping practices through involvement in professional learning related to developing mathematical inquiry communities
Helen Maxey
Integration of financial literacy in primary school curricula
Raeleen Simpson
Strategies that teachers use to provide opportunities for diverse students (Pāsifika and Māori students) to participate equitably in mathematics
Masters Thesis (2016)
Kat Freeman
Enacting Challenging Tasks: Maximising Opportunities for Students’ Mathematical Learning: This study worked with three year 7 and 8 teachers to explore pedagogical approaches that would maximise opportunities for students to engage with and learn from challenging mathematics tasks. The learning opportunities afforded by the task enactment and the role of teacher planning, and the extent to which the mathematical ideas inherent in tasks were explicitly addressed. Through case studies across three tasks, the study highlighted the importance of teacher planning, noticing and monitoring of mathematical activity, and sequencing of student presentation in ways that supported the development of a generalised solution.
Masters Thesis (2017)
Rosemary Curwen
How does cultural identity shape how Pāsifika students view themselves as mathematicians? There is an urgent need to address the continual underachievement and disengagement of Pāsifika students. Current educational practices are not effectively addresing the different cultural needs of Pāsifika learners. By interviewing high-achieving Year 8 Pāsifika students and their teachers, this research aimed to explored the affordances for students to develop strong cultural identities and mathematical dispositions.
Jenna Crowley
Impact of teacher collaborative planning in mathematics: This case study research investigated teachers’ experiences of collaborative planning for mathematics problem-solving lessons, using planning practices based on the work of Smith, Hughes, Engle, and Stein (2009). The research interest was in the experiences and perceived outcomes of teachers as they planned collaboratively.
Julia Hill
What do culturally diverse middle school students value for their mathematics learning? Achievement goals are an integral component of our learning experience; they guide our behaviour to achieve desired outcomes and avoid undesired outcomes. This research aimed to better understand the mathematical goals, aspirations and motivatinos of a group of culturally diverse learners in middle school. The results o this study may assist middle school teachers to positively influence student motivation and mathematics achievement. Click here to read a summary of the findings of this research.
Lee Mann
Math is a four-letter word: Unpacking anxiety in mathematics classrooms. For some students, mathematics generates intense fear, frustration and feelings of anxiety. These effects emerge as early as the first year of schooling and often retain their group throughout the year levels. This study used questionnaires and interviews to explore the prevalence of mathematics anxiety (including mathematics learning anxiety and mathematics test anxiety) in year 9 secondary school students in one geographic region of New Zealand. Click here to read a summary of the findings of this research.
Masters Thesis (2018)
Libby Cunningham
Culturally responsive tasks and Pasifika students’ engagement in mathematics: This case study involves developing mathematics learning tasks that build on Pāsifika students’ and families’ cultural funds of knowledge. Tasks are designed around this cultural knowledge and photographs that students have shared to document their out-of-school mathematical experiences. Student interviews and observations are used to investigate students’ engagement when working on these culturally responsive tasks in their mathematics classroom.
Doctoral Thesis (2016)
Margaret Crawford
Acceleration and Gifted Girls: The research investigates acceleration as an intervention in secondary education within girls’ schools in New Zealand. It explains the extent that mathematics is used as an accelerated subject and for whom it is used. A national survey of girls’ schools which offer secondary education provided information on schools’ provisions for gifted girls, and case studies of three schools which offer acceleration as an intervention were designed to reveal the perceptions and experiences of teachers, students, and parents/caregivers.
Doctoral Thesis (2018)
Zaenal Abidin
Online community of Practice: Leveraging information and communication technology for reflective practice in promoting mathematical practices: Set in the context of Indonesia, this study explores the use of an online community of practice built to foster the process of collaborative teacher learning. The study aims to investigate the use of this on-line community as a way to support teachers in promoting mathematical practices. It uses an action research approach to explore the ways teachers use the on-line communities of practice, and ways that this community can support the integration of technology into the mathematics curriculum in Indonesia.
Fatimah Alsaleh
Prospective mathematics teachers’ perceptions of preparedness: Being well prepared and experiencing a sense of preparedness for teaching is a key learning outcome of any teacher education program, with research documenting a positive connection between teachers’ subject matter preparation and teaching quality and student achievement in the classroom. This study explores the perceptions of preservice teachers in their final year of teacher education within a range of Saudi Arabia universities using a mixed-methods methodology.