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Teaching senior secondary mathematics presents a number of challenges, such as provision of a prescribed curriculum, homework expectations and preparing students for externally imposed high-stakes assessment tasks. In order to address these challenges, an increasing number of senior secondary mathematics teachers are incorporating a flipped classroom approach into their teaching. While enactments of the approach vary, it typically involves delegating the more routine instructional mathematical content as homework videos, allowing for more targeted in-class teaching. Traditionally in the domain of tertiary teaching, it is becoming more common in secondary school settings and seems to address students’ needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness, which comprise self-determination theory (SDT). This paper looks at a case study undertaken with an Australian grade 12 class where the teacher utilised a flipped classroom approach to teach mathematics 2. Data were collected through an online survey, interviews and classroom observations. The results showed that SDT was an appropriate lens to analyse participants’ experiences of the approach, with the teacher being a particularly strong influence on students’ motivation for engaging with the approach. The study adds to the limited literature on examining enactments of the flipped classroom in senior secondary mathematics contexts and has implications for practice in terms of identifying the practices and factors which influence students’ motivations for engaging in mathematics classes.

Teaching secondary mathematics has a number of challenges, including the expectations that teachers cover the prescribed curriculum, help students learn difficult concepts, prepare students for future studies, and, increasingly, that they do so incorporating digital technologies. This study investigates a teacher's, and his students', perceptions of the benefits or otherwise of a flipped classroom approach in meeting these challenges, within a prescribed curriculum context. Data collection instruments included a survey designed to investigate the nature of students' engagement with the flipped approach and semi-structured student and teacher interviews. Analysis of these data indicated that the teacher and students were positive about their experiences with a flipped classroom approach and that students were motivated to engage with the teacher-created online mathematics resources. The study adds to the limited research literature related to student and teacher perceptions of the affordances of the flipped classroom approach and has implications for secondary mathematics teachers who face the challenge of the twin demands of covering the prescribed curriculum and catering for a range of students' learning needs. [Author abstract]

Today's students increasingly engage in online environments, with ready access to digital resources and mobile technologies. While much of this activity is socially motivated, the internet is also a source of knowledge for students and frequently accessed for school assignments, projects and assessment purposes. As mathematics continues to be an area in which many students experience difficulties, it is not surprising that a recent Google search produced 57,600,000 results for 'help with mathematics'. Current research, however, is limited in terms of documenting students' use of such resources, particularly when they are self-initiated and often accessed in an out of classroom environment. This paper reports on a study that investigated the use of mathematical online resources accessed by students in Grades 5-9, with a particular focus on evaluating the effectiveness of Khan Academy, an online tutorial site. Data collected through surveys and interviews showed that while students did access online sites, particularly in the later years of schooling, they varied in both their reasons for doing so and their perceptions of how useful these sites were. The findings add to the limited research in this area and have practical implications for students and teachers, including the potential to challenge the traditional role of the teacher. [Author abstract]

The COVID-19 outbreak in late 2019 required a complete shift to online learning across all educational institutions, including universities. The rapid transition to online learning globally meant that many educators were suddenly tasked with adapting their classroom-based pedagogy to the online space. While this was undoubtedly challenging for teachers and students, it also opened up possibilities for reimagining the delivery of content, along with creating increased access for students who had barriers for studying remotely before the impact of COVID-19. The study discussed in this paper examines the experiences of students studying at a regional Australian university that already offered online courses, and whose instructors were already using a diverse range of online delivery tools. Specifically, the study sought to investigate how instructors used interactive strategies to promote student engagement, and how the interaction between learner and content influences student engagement. With research showing that online students typically have higher attrition rates than their on-campus counterparts, engagement has been identified as an important factor in online learning. Online interaction in particular is considered to be instrumental in influencing student engagement and positively impacting student satisfaction, persistence, and academic performance. Data collected from interviews conducted with two different cohorts of students, studying two different courses (mathematics education and Chinese language) at the same university, demonstrated ways instructors utilised interactive online pedagogies to engage students with potentially challenging course content. The study has implications for online educators who are looking for ways to adapt their on-campus courses to online delivery, with a focus on engaging and maintaining online students’ interest and ongoing participation in their courses.

This qualitative survey study set out to investigate in-service and pre-service primary school teachers' perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children's literature in mathematics teaching and learning in an Australian educational context. While research over the past three decades have documented pedagogical benefits of teaching mathematics using children's literature, research into teachers' perceptions regarding the use of such resources is virtually non-existent. The study thus filled this research gap by drawing responses from open-ended survey questions of 94 in-service and 82 pre-service teachers in Australia. A thematic analysis revealed 13 perceived barriers classified under five themes with Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, and Time Constraint, representing 75% of all perceived barriers. Moreover, 14 perceived enablers were identified and classified under five themes with Pedagogical Benefits and Love of Stories representing around 70% of all perceived enablers. Findings also showed that most of the teachers in the study (around 75%) never or infrequently used children's literature in their mathematics classrooms. The study highlights the role of professional learning and teacher training in ensuring that both in- and pre-service teachers have the necessary pedagogical knowledge, experience and confidence in using children's literature to enrich their mathematics teaching. [Author abstract]

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in interruptions to social, economic, cultural, and educational life, with social distancing measures and well-being concerns leading to widespread restrictions to everyday activities. When COVID-19 first made an impact in 2020, many schools across Australia were closed entirely or provided limited access. Subsequently, many parents and caregivers were tasked with educating their children from home. Throughout this period, a key concern identified by various stakeholders was the potential impact of school closures on academic progression. This paper reports the results of a study that investigated Australian primary school parents' experiences of home-learning with their children due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. To explore perceptions of how home-learning was managed by schools and the impact the experience had on children's academic progress from the perspective of parents, survey data were collected (n = 171) and interviews were conducted (n = 29). The study was guided by Epstein's Framework of Parental Involvement, with a particular focus on home-school partnerships. Findings indicated that, despite individual challenges, many parents were willing to engage in home-learning with their children, often beyond what was expected of them by the school. Overall, parents felt that the impact on academic progress was minimal, and that positive experiences were characterised by strong home-school connections. Through building on Epstein's work to reconceptualise parental engagement with learning, rather than parental involvement with school, the study is important because it highlights assumptions made about parents' pedagogical and content knowledge and their capacity to support school directed student learning. Importantly the findings demonstrate how home-school partnerships can be strengthened or put at risk under challenging conditions.

There is increasing recognition of the importance of university and school research partnerships for developing approaches to supporting student learning and wellbeing. However, this is a relatively under-explored area of research particularly in regional community contexts. Drawing on data from a 3-year study of learning and wellbeing in low SES regional schools, this paper focusses on research partnerships between a regional university and three regional government schools in the Australian state of Tasmania. The three case studies presented consider the diverse ways that university and school partnerships can serve as catalysts for teachers' professional experimentation within their classroom practice. [Author abstract]

In Australia, the term \"numeracy\" is used to describe \"the competence and disposition to use mathematics to meet the general demands of life at home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life\" (Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers 1997, p. 15). The implemented mathematics curriculum is responsible for introducing and developing the mathematical underpinning of numeracy (Department of Education, Community, and Cultural Development [DECCD] 1997), but the nature of numeracy suggests that it cannot be developed solely within mathematics lessons and classrooms and that it cannot be assumed that learning mathematics will automatically produce numerate students (Murcia, Powell, and Van Wyke 2006). The ability to use their acquired mathematical knowledge, understanding, and skills in everyday situations requires that students develop experience and confidence (DECCD 1997); the two programs outlined in this article provide opportunities for this to occur.

The purpose of this article is to examine the potential of video-catalysed reflective practice for supporting ongoing teacher professional learning in numeracy. We explore this potential through a synthesis of two case studies that investigated different approaches to supporting teacher reflection on practice through the use of video-stimulated recall: one case involved a single researcher and a single teacher, and the other case included two researchers working with a pair of teachers. Data were analysed through the use of two conceptual lenses which were synthesised from literature related to levels of teacher reflection and teacher change. The analysis suggests that video-stimulated recall can be an effective medium for promoting teacher professional learning, providing quality reflection and questioning are included as crucial elements of the processes. [Author abstract]

This paper explores student perceptions regarding their learning in year 7, with a focus on challenges they experienced midway through their first year of secondary school. The study used a predominantly qualitative approach to collect data from a cohort of 178 students attending an Australian secondary school. The cohort completed a survey asking students to identify challenges with schoolwork and strategies that might be helpful. Data were processed by coding all responses for a content analysis before conducting a thematic analysis on the coded data. Students were concerned about their understanding of and connection to curriculum and identified challenges in managing tasks in the time allocated. They indicated that improving their organisational skills and focus might assist them. However, thematic analysis results indicated that a lack of connection to the curriculum had an impact on the students' confidence as learners. [Author abstract]