Mathematical good practice

With many pupils and teachers currently worried about the increased mathematical content of the new GCSE specifications, The language of mathematics in science, is a timely, important and helpful publication from the Association for Science Education. It deals with every aspect of maths that 11–16-year-old pupils will meet, but pays particular attention to the language educators use.

Ensuring greater clarity and consistency of mathematical language is one of the key aims of the book. I found it particularly useful when it compared how the language of mathematics is approached in science and maths lessons and pointed out how the different subjects may have a different way of dealing with the same ideas.

The book also deals with every aspect of graphs, including choosing the correct type of graph, and the best ways of drawing and analysing them. This advice is further developed in the supplementary Teaching approaches booklet. This describes various projects where novel teaching approaches to advancing mathematical understanding have been explored. Many of these projects are about improving graphical skills in students. I think they are well worth exploring, especially those taking a cross-curricular approach.

I would thoroughly recommend all teachers read The language of mathematics in science, not just those who are new or inexperienced. I have been teaching for 20 years and, in general, I think I have a good understanding of how to teach mathematical skills as part of my chemistry teaching. I have, however, never received any training in it and after reading the book I can see my use of language may at times have confused some pupils due to lack of consistency with other sciences or mathematics. Like me, I am sure many teachers will make some fine tuning to their teaching of after reading it.