The case for a sub-element 'measuring matter' within the Australian national numeracy learning progression

• Published in: The Australian journal of education Vol. 65; no. 3; pp. 280 - 298
• Main Authors: McMaster, Heather J, Preston, Christine, Wang, Hailan, Perivolarellis, Mersini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Camberwell, Vic SAGE Publications 01.11.2021; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Children; Curricula; Education; Elementary School Students; Foreign Countries; Grade 5; Grade 6; Learning; Learning Processes; Mathematics; Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction; Mathematics Teachers; Measurement; Methodology; National Curriculum; Numeracy; Physics; Planning; Quality control; Science Education; Science Instruction; Scientific Concepts; Student Attitudes; Study and teaching; Study and teaching (Primary); Teaching Methods; Thinking Skills; Australia; volume; density; particle model of matter; measurement; mass; Learning progression
• ISSN: 0004-9441; 2050-5884
• DOI: 10.1177/00049441211041855

Australia has a National Numeracy Learning Progression (NNLP) that is strongly aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. This article examines how a sub-element within this progression could be impacting students' learning of Science. This sub-element is firmly based on Mathematics education research as to how students build their understanding of geometric measurement (the structure of length, area and volume). Mathematics educators subsequently researched children's measurement ofmass and included it within the same sub-element of the NNLP. The contexts in which mass and volume are measured in Mathematics are different to those used in teaching Science. This article presents two studies that used variation theory and task-based interviews of children in Years 5 and 6, to explore their thinking about mass and volume in a Science context. The findings suggest that mathematical constructs in geometric measurement could be constraining the development of scientific ideas about matter. This research has implications for furthering the development of the NNLP to encompass scientific aspects of measuring matter.