Learning mathematics creates opportunities for and
enriches the lives of all Australians. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics
provides students with essential mathematical skills and knowledge in number
and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and
probability. It develops the numeracy capabilities that all students need
in their personal, work and civic life, and provides the fundamentals on which
mathematical specialties and professional applications of mathematics are
built.
Mathematics has its own
value and beauty and the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics aims to instil in
students an appreciation of the elegance and power of mathematical reasoning.
Mathematical ideas have evolved across all cultures over thousands of years,
and are constantly developing. Digital technologies are facilitating this
expansion of ideas and providing access to new tools for continuing
mathematical exploration and invention. The curriculum focuses on developing
increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematical understanding, fluency,
reasoning, and problem-solving skills. These proficiencies enable students to
respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematical
strategies to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently.
The Australian Curriculum:
Mathematics ensures that the links between the various components of
mathematics, as well as the relationship between mathematics and other
disciplines, are made clear. Mathematics is composed of multiple but
interrelated and interdependent concepts and systems which students apply
beyond the mathematics classroom. In science, for example, understanding
sources of error and their impact on the confidence of conclusions is vital, as
is the use of mathematical models in other disciplines. In geography,
interpretation of data underpins the study of human populations and their
physical environments; in history, students need to be able to imagine
timelines and time frames to reconcile related events; and in English, deriving
quantitative and spatial information is an important aspect of making meaning
of texts.
The curriculum anticipates
that schools will ensure all students benefit from access to the power of
mathematical reasoning and learn to apply their mathematical understanding
creatively and efficiently. The Mathematics curriculum provides students with
carefully paced, in-depth study of critical skills and concepts. It encourages
teachers to help students become self-motivated, confident learners through
inquiry and active participation in challenging and engaging experiences.
Mathematics aims to ensure that students:
- are confident, creative users and communicators
of mathematics, able to investigate, represent and interpret situations in
their personal and work lives and as active citizens
- develop an increasingly sophisticated
understanding of mathematical concepts and fluency with processes, and are
able to pose and solve problems and reason in number and algebra,
measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability
- recognise connections between the areas of
mathematics and other disciplines and appreciate mathematics as an
accessible and enjoyable discipline to study.