‘Changes to maths teaching methods a risk’

CHANGES to how maths is taught could risk dumbing down the subject and reducing the high international reputation of the Leaving Certificate, a senior maths lecturer has warned.

Michael Brennan, lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technology’s department of computing, maths and physics, said recent international studies have shown the dangers of adapting maths education to make it more applicable to real-world situations.

His comments follow on further controversy a fortnight ago over the high failure rates in Leaving Certificate maths, particularly at ordinary level, and the low numbers taking the higher-level exam.

The National Council of Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has developed

Project Maths, which will involve more practical applications of the subject and problem solving to try and increase interest in the subject, particularly at higher level.

But while Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe claims the new curriculum — being piloted in 24 second-level schools from this week and due to be first examined in 2012 — will help reverse the poor results of recent years, Mr Brennan said a different approach may be needed.

“Perhaps a more applied type of practical maths, which would be somewhere between the standard of the higher and ordinary-level courses, would allow more students to get higher-level grades, as an alternative to widening the current course,” he said.

He also opposes the awarding of extra points for college applicants with higher-level maths, which has been recommended by some groups, as previous use of this system led to students spending extra time on maths but losing out on grades in other subjects.

In an article for today’s Irish Examiner, Mr Brennan refers to British and American research which questions the importance of real-life situations being used in maths, one of them suggesting that “relevance replaces rigour”.

“If that’s the way people want to go, with more practical elements, they shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking it’s pure maths,” said Mr Brennan, who taught the subject at second level before beginning his 25-year third-level career.

“The standard of maths has definitely weakened among students starting college in the past 10 years or more. The remedies are not simple, they are complex, but we have to be careful about tinkering with it and dumbing it down, which is the direction we’re at risk of going in,” Mr Brennan said.

Most of the country’s 730 second-level schools are opening this week, one of the earliest returns in many years, mainly due to the early holding of the 2009 Leaving Certificate and the fact that they must have classes for 165 days a year.