About ReMSTEP

ReMSTEP (Reconceptualising Maths and Science Teacher Education Programs) was a three year (2014-2017) collaborative project led by the University of Melbourne in association with Deakin, La Trobe and Monash universities. The project responded to the need for improved competence and confidence in the teaching of science and maths, as a pre-service focus, across the Australian Curriculum.

Three videos (parabolas, fractals and knots) were produced through collaboration between staff in the Faculties of Education and Science at Monash University. The videos are aimed at pre-service teachers, but are just as relevant to practicing teachers of secondary school mathematics. The purpose of the videos is to inspire pre-service teachers to think of mathematics as a beautiful, creative and relevant discipline. We aim to challenge preconceived ideas about what maths is and isn’t, and for the beauty of maths to be appreciated, understood and shared with learners of maths.

For further information see the Mathematical Association of Victoria’s publication – Common Denominator, term 3, July 2017, pg15.

ReMSTEP Maths videos

A key objective is each of the videos below is to provide inspiration for classroom activities that deal with the underpinning concepts, rather than the technical and computational aspects, of mathematics.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the following people who made these videos possible:

• Norman Do (Monash University, Faculty of Science),
• Rebecca Cooper (Monash University, Faculty of Education),
• Jo Burke (Monash University, Faculty of Education),
• Magnolia Lowe (Film Communications),
• Owen Kazula,
• Chris Nagy,
• Greg Lancaster (Monash University, Faculty of Education), and
• pre-service and in-service teachers who provided us with feedback.

The presenter, Dr Norman Do

Dr Norman Do is a self-proclaimed mathematics geek, and lecturer at Monash University. He loves to study and teach mathematics and aspires to engage people in study mathematics and to appreciate the diverse and varied jobs that exist for mathematicians. His main research interests lie in geometry and topology, including knot theory.

Norman believes “We need to encourage people to take on challenges, do hard things and gain a sense of self-worth from learning,” He adds “We need to celebrate our mathematical heroes like Terry Tao and we need to understand that if you’re a mathematician you can work behind the scenes in jobs as varied as biochemistry, animation and finance.”