INTEGRATION OF CROSS-CURRICULAR INTERESTS

Integration of Cross-Curricular Interests

Throughout the curriculum development and revision process, the advice of experts has been invited to ensure that relevance, equity, and accessibility issues are addressed in all Integrated Resource Packages.

The recommendations of these cross- curricular reviews have been integrated into the prescribed learning outcomes, suggested instructional strategies, and assessment strategies components of all curricula with respect to the following:

• Applied Focus
• Career Development
• Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism
• English as a Second Language (ESL)
• Special Needs
• Aboriginal Studies
• Gender Equity
• Information Technology
• Media Education
• Science-Technology-Society
• Environment and Sustainability

See Appendix C: Cross-Curricular Interests for more information.

Gender Issues in Mathematics

The education system is committed to helping both male and female students succeed equally well. In British Columbia, significant progress has been made in improving the participation and success rate of female students in secondary math courses. They now take about the same number of secondary math courses as males. There continues, however, to be a relatively low rate of female participation in math-related careers and education. Positive attitudes toward the practice of mathematics, as well as skill in mathematics, are essential to the workplace and to everyone’s ability to participate fully in society. Teaching, assessment materials, learning activities, and classroom environments should place value on the mathematical experiences and contributions of both men and women and people of diverse cultures.

Research regarding gender and mathematics has raised a number of important issues that teachers should consider when teaching mathematics. These include the diversity of learning styles, gender bias in learning resources, and unintentional gender bias in teaching. The following instructional strategies are suggested to help the teacher deliver a gender-sensitive mathematics curriculum.

• Feature both females and males who are mathematicians, or who make extensive use of mathematics in their careers, as guest speakers or subjects of study in the classroom.
  
  
• Design instruction to acknowledge differences in experiences and interests between young women and young men.
  
  
• Demonstrate the relevance of mathematics to a variety of careers and to everyday life in ways that are apt to appeal to particular students in the class or school. Successful links include biology, environmental issues, and current topics in mass media.
  
  
• Explore not only the practical applications of mathematics, but also the human elements, such as ways in which ideas have changed throughout history and the social and moral implications of mathematics.
  
  
• Explore ways of approaching mathematics that will appeal to a wide variety of students. Use co-operative rather than competitive instructional strategies. Focus on concept development, encouraging students to question until they can say "I’ve got it." Include a wide variety of applications that demonstrate the role of math in the social fabric of our world. Varying approaches appeal to a wider variety of students.
  
  
• Emphasize that mathematics is used by ordinary people with a variety of interests and responsibilities.
  
  
• Allowing for informal social interaction with successful "math using" members of the community will help change the negative stereotypes of mathematicians and their social style.
  
  
• Provide opportunities for visual and hands-on activities, which most students enjoy. Experiments, demonstrations, field trips, and exercises that provide opportunities to explore the relevance of mathematics are particularly important.

Adapting Instruction for Diverse Student Needs

When students with special needs are expected to achieve or surpass the learning outcomes set out in the mathematics curriculum, regular grading practices and reporting procedures are followed. However, when students are not expected to achieve the learning outcomes, adaptations and modifications must be noted in their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Instructional and assessment methods should be adapted to meet the needs of all students.

The following strategies may help students with special needs succeed in mathematics:

• Adapt the Environment
  • Change the student’s seat in the classroom.
  • Make use of co-operative grouping.
    
    
• Adapt Presentations
  • Provide students with advance organizers of the key mathematical concepts.
  • Demonstrate or model new concepts.
  • Adapt the pace of activities as required.
    
    
• Adapt Materials
  • Use techniques, such as colour coding the steps to solving a problem, to make the organization of activities more explicit.
  • Use manipulatives such as large-size dice, cards, and dominoes.
  • Use large-print charts such as a 100s chart or a times-table chart.
  • Provide students with a talking calculator or a calculator with a large keypad.
  • Use large print on activity sheets.
  • Use opaque overlays on text pages to reduce the quantity of print that is visible.
  • Highlight key points on activity sheets.
    
    
• Adapt Methods of Assistance
  • Have peers or volunteers assist students with special needs.
  • Have students with special needs help younger students learn mathematics.
  • Have teacher assistants work with individuals and small groups of students with special needs.
  • Work with consultants and support teachers to develop problem-solving activities and strategies for
  • mathematics instruction for students with special needs.
    
    
• Adapt Methods of Assessment
  • Allow students to demonstrate their understanding of mathematical concepts in a variety of ways, such as murals, displays, models, puzzles, game boards, mobiles, and tape recordings.
  • Modify assessment tools to match student needs. For example, oral tests, open-book tests, and tests with no time limit may allow students to better demonstrate their learning than a traditional timed paper-and-pencil test.
  • Set achievable goals.
  • Use computer programs that provide opportunities for students to practise mathematics as well as record and track their results.
    
    
• Provide Opportunities for Extension and Practice
  • Require the completion of only a small amount of work at a given time.
  • Simplify the way questions are worded to match the student’s level of understanding.
  • Provide functional, everyday contexts (e.g., cooking) in which students can practise measurement skills.

   

© 2000 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. BC MOE Curriculum Branch.
Maintained by: Mathematics Coordinator
Revised: November 30, 2000

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