Curriculum in Math Development

Running head: CURRICULUM IN MATH DEVELOPMENT 1
Curriculum in Math Development
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CURRICULUM IN MATH DEVELOPMENT 2
Curriculum in Math Development
An academic curriculum is designed to equip the learners to learn from the skills taught in
a way they will be able to apply the taught skill in a real life situation or in the advancement of a
certain concept later in life (Clark, & Mayer, 2016). The paper’s main focus will be on the
various Australian academic levels, a brief description of the mathematical concepts taught in the
various primary levels, the examples of resources used in the development of mathematics
among the students and a rationalization of how each of the resources enhances student learning
and engagement in the content taught.
The obvious reason to create a future oriented curriculum provides an opportunity for
improved and intensive teaching methods. It is evident that the future’s society will be
multifarious and competitive; so as to ensure that the future inhabitants of that society thrive
well, the change that will change the future will have to begin from the present times (Atweh, &
Goos, 2011).
The aims of the Australian mathematics curriculum include educating young Australian
citizens, enhance their activeness and incorporate mathematical concepts in the ways they predict
future events such as financial planning and make personal decisions. Math learning also
enhances and enriches the learning of other subjects and concepts that may include in other
learning disciplines. It is also designed to change the way of thinking of citizens (Whitin, &
Wilde, 2015). Once the citizens are able to think in a mathematical manner, they are able to
come up with accurate future and problem-solving plans that will greatly impact on the
development of the nation as a whole. Moreover, math has its own beauty once understood and it
is intended that every learner will appreciate the role mathematics plays in improving their ways
of thinking.

CURRICULUM IN MATH DEVELOPMENT 3
It is evident to everyone that all curriculums are developed depending on a child's age.
This section of the paper tends to look deeper into the mathematical concepts that can be taught
in the various levels of the curriculum. Since the Australian curriculum is so vast, the paper will
just take an example of one year in each of the curriculum levels which can be divided into Years
K-6 which comprises of pupils who are 5-12 years old, years 7-10 which comprises of students
between 12-15 years old and years 11-12 which comprises of students between 15-18 years old.
In the early years of the curriculum, this paper will focus on the year 2 classes which
comprises of students typically aged 8 years old (Watson, 2011). During this stage, the best
concept that would fit this type of students would be the intensive learning of numbers and
algebra. By this year, the students are more familiar with numbers and basic ways to apply them
in their studies and real life. However, for them to advance further in the understanding of
numbers at a later stage in their curriculum, they need to be familiar with algebra.
The reason as to why algebra should be taught at this early stage is because it is known as
the ‘gateway subject’. By using the term ‘gateway subject’, this means that without the
understanding of algebra, a student is not able to understand future math concepts that will be
introduced later in the curriculum. Such math concepts include trigonometry, calculus and
geometry (Reid, 2015). Secondly, algebra provided learners with knowledge and expertise for
making daily life decisions and it also sets the trajectory in the rest of the math education of the
student. Most of the colleges also recruit new students with a series of exams which Algebra is a
part of dominantly. If a student does not pass the algebra based test, they are required to take
supplementary classes that will ensure they learn algebra. But so as to avoid such
inconveniences, it would be important that algebra is introduced at an early stage in a student’s