Today I completed the Online Maths Assessment and must admit I am quite shocked with my results. I decided to tackle the assessment after reading Liping Ma’s theory that where there is a gap in teacher’s knowledge there will be gaps in student’s learning. I wanted to reinforce my belief that I had a firm grasp of the basics in mathematics but in actual fact this test highlighted to me that although I understood the questions and got the correct answer for 80% of the test, I couldn’t explain why I came to the answer or the reason for my working out. This is important as to have a profound understanding of fundamental mathematics you must first be able to do the maths and be able to explain how and why you came to your conclusions. I clearly have some mathematical knowledge however I could not yet describe my knowledge as profound. Exploring different theories, mathematical ideas and teaching points, and in turn developing my own knowledge of fundamental maths will result in me becoming more confident, and a more competent teacher in the future.

Liping Ma also explores the idea that Chinese teacher’s improve their maths ability through discussion with other teachers, taking on and developing ideas from students and finally practicing mathematics themselves.

Over the time of this course I hope to explore some of the theories cited in Liping Ma’s book, but also other theorists who have impacted the mathematical field.

Reference: Ma, Liping. Knowing And Teaching Elementary Mathematics. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999. Print.