Month: June 2017
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Maths skills need to serve students beyond the next 30 minutes
By Peter Sullivan, Professor of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, Monash University. A lack of consensus about what works can make debates about education frustrating. This is especially true for the teaching and learning of mathematics. Not only is there a high level of disagreement about the teaching of the subject, but even the most…
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Move over, tennis mums, a new breed of tennis mom has arrived in the updated Oxford English Dictionary
You might remember the term tennis mum being used to describe women who returned to tennis after becoming mothers. Now, tennis mom and tennis dad refer to parents who actively and enthusiastically support their child’s participation in the sport. They are among the tennis-related, lifestyle, current affairs and educational terms included in the latest update of the Oxford…
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Performance and retention – the value of textbooks
Textbooks can play an important role in student retention, according to Oxford University Press author James Arvanitakis. In an article in The Conversation, James wrote about a new program at Western Sydney University in which first year students receive free access to digital textbooks. The pilot program was introduced at the start of 2017, following…
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How to make maths memorable
By Annie Facchinetti Recent research in the area of neuroscience has revealed that the brain has a greater ability to change and adapt than was previously thought. However, brain changes are generally not instant. For lasting neurological pathways to be built, much like wearing a physical pathway between one place and another, they need to be…
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Don’t underestimate the value of practice in maths education
By Annie Facchinetti It is often easy to assume that because students appear to have understood an idea or demonstrated a skill on a particular day, they have mastered the associated concept. However, research is increasingly confirming the importance of practice in embedding learning in long-term memory. The adage ‘practice makes perfect’ is proving particularly relevant…
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Why flipped learning makes sense in the STEM classroom
By Andrew Douch The current generation of STEM teachers is the first that must choose between teaching important skills and teaching urgent skills. In the past, there was no difference — the important skills were the urgent skills. Now there is a fork in the road, presenting a threshold challenge for STEM teachers that flipped…
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Connecting with Law Short Film Competition 2017
The Connecting with Law Short Film Competition is an annual event run by Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand. Now in its tenth year, the Connecting with Law Short Film Competition is open to all tertiary students currently enrolled in a law unit at an Australian university. This year, we are asking students to…
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Oxford Word of the Month: June – Kangatarian
noun: a person who eats kangaroo meat but avoids eating other meat. Also as adj. THE STORY BEHIND THE WORD OF THE MONTH In early 2010 a number of news organisations, both in Australia and internationally, reported on a new diet trend happening in Australia: There’s a new semi-vegetarian wave emerging in Australia: people who…