Sticking with Maths Means Talking About Maths

In senior school, the choice of persisting with maths or not has a real impact on where your career will go; into an in-demand STEM based industry or a humanities based and slightly less secure industry, like journalism for instance.

Some maths is always good though and having discussions about what type of maths students are interested in or can contend with goes a long way towards keeping them involved with the subject.

Going with the most advanced maths subject is not always the best approach; students are more likely to succeed when their subject choice matches their interests, strengths and future goals.

“Choosing the most advanced maths isn't always the best option. If a student is finding the content too hard, it’s likely they will struggle and find learning miserable. For many careers and degrees, advanced maths isn’t necessary, and general maths is sufficient,” says Dr Ben Zunica Lecturer in Secondary Mathematics at the University of Sydney.

The important thing is for families to speak to their child’s school about how maths pathways operate.

“It is vital that any families concerned about senior maths subject choices find out how streaming practices work in their child's school early. Many schools stream from year 7, where students may be placed in a class which means they may not be taught the necessary content to choose advanced maths for their senior subjects, even if they want to,” said Dr Bronwyn Reid O’Connor, Senior Lecturer in Secondary Mathematics at the University of Sydney.

“To identify the type of maths that would suit their interests, students are recommended to firstly talk to their teachers. Prior to this conversation, students can also have a think about what university courses appeal to them for future studies and check course prerequisites, so they can receive early guidance from their teacher on what level of maths is best suited to their goals,” Dr Reid O’Connor said.

General maths, also called Standard maths, is a great option if students are interested in university degrees which do not include maths subjects as part of their course structure. Advanced or extension maths is essential if students plan to undertake a university degree where any maths is involved. Even if maths isn't listed as a prerequisite, in degrees that involve maths units it will be expected knowledge, and will help boost students’ chances of success at university.

Something needs to change in the way maths is presented and taught, a reshaping of the perception of maths making it appealing to more students especially girls.

“There is lots of great work happening across the nation on boosting engagement and participation in maths. Research shows that student interest can be supported in maths by using varied teaching strategies, ensuring they see the relevance of the learning, and supporting their experiences of success in class.

“For girls, we need to continue to work on improving self-confidence, and showing that maths is not just a subject about speed and accuracy but a subject that involves deep thinking, being creative and collaborating to solve real problems,” said Dr Reid O’Connor.

“Alongside teaching strategies, conversations families and parents have with children about maths can go a long way in creating positive attitudes towards the subject and boosting overall participation. Parents can focus on the relevance of maths and how it operates in the world, by encouraging children to notice how maths thinking can be applied to sports, art, cooking, travel, money management, games and so on. Parents can also be curious about maths alongside their children and help them to see the value of maths to a broad range of occupations,” said Dr Zunica.

Students interested in STEM should seek support early if they are struggling with maths, as addressing learning gaps can help keep future study options open.

“Bridging courses are readily available for those who might not have had the opportunity to study advanced maths but find out they need it later on. But, these courses come with a warning - they are often run intensively, and students will still need to learn the same content in a shorter period of time. If a student feels like they might want to pursue a STEM degree, it is better to study the required maths during Years 11 and 12 to eliminate the stress of compressing this study in an intensive bridging course. University maths subjects are some of the most challenging courses with high fail rates, mostly because students have not sufficiently studied advanced maths during high school.

“Recent Australian Industry Group surveys show that 88% of business are affected by low levels of literacy and numeracy. It is vital that students think seriously about taking some senior maths, even if this is not mandatory,” said Dr Reid O’Connor.