Mathematics

Advanced Lesson
Plan

Drew McLean
18326970
1 Intellectual quality
1.1 Deep knowledge
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Teacher discusses concept initially but leaves considerable time for unguided learning
for a relatively simple task for this topic

1.2 Deep understanding

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: students are able to ask and answer meaningful questions of the teacher showing a level
of understanding

1.3 Problematic knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Due to the topic there is limited opportunity for differences of opinion however the
method involved in this class is seen as the only option despite there being more ways of
understanding

1.4 Higher-order thinking

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: The discussion at the beginning and end of class provide times of higher order thinking
however it is not sustained throughout the lesson

1.5 Metalanguage
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Considerable use of terms relevant to the topic at hand

1.6 Substantive communication

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Communication with the teacher and students is had throughout the classtime with
discussion and group work throughout

Quality learning environment

2.1 Explicit quality criteria
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Direct questions are provided to guide students in their research task as well as questions
asked at the beginning of the discussion

2.2 Engagement
1–2–3–4–5 Comments: Students seemed to alternate between paying attention to the class and talking with their
friends

2.3 High expectations

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: There is not much in the way of challenging work to go further with and the lesson is
more about understanding than it is about extending knowledge

2.4 Social support

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Social support appears to be neutral or targeted towards those who speak in class

2.5 Students’ self-regulation

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Students are given autonomy to research throughout the lesson and class proceeds with
little to no interruption

2.6 Student direction

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: Students are given opportunities to discover what they want however are limited in
terms of where they can get the information from

3 Significance
3.1 Background knowledge
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: A lot of assumed knowledge is required but not mentioned for this task

3.2 Cultural knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: subject doesn’t allow for much discussion of culture

3.3 Knowledge integration

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: There is some integration of knowledge from computer skills but nothing mentioned
throughout the lesson

3.4 Inclusivity
 1–2–3–4–5 Comments: All students were invited to ask and answer questions throughout the discussion and the
class

3.5 Connectedness
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Comments: The topic appears standalone and justification is not provided

3.6 Narrative
1–2–3–4–5 Comments: There is no narrative used throughout

Identifying Areas for Improvement

Identify the four NSW QT model elements you are targeting for improvement.

QT model
1) Connectedness 2) High Expectations
3) Problematic Knowledge 4) Background Knowledge
 Lesson Plan

Topic area: Maths Advanced Stage of Learner: Stage 6 Syllabus Pages:

Date:/ Location Booked:/ Lesson Number: /

Time: 60 minutes Total Number of students Printing/preparation

Outcomes Assessment Students learn about Students learn to

MA11-8 uses appropriate -Informal -Usage of words such as -Students are able to
technology to formative equation, axis, linear identify the axis of
investigate, organize, assessment. relationship, non-linear graph and is able to
model and interpret -Students to relationship, parabola plot points on the
information in a discuss the topic and so on are examples graph.
range of contexts critically of metalanguage used -Students are able to
-Students to in this lesson. join in the discussion
investigate the - The function of activity and justify
concept in group coefficients in quadratic graphs of non-linear
based learning equations relationship.
-The interactivity of -Through the online
quadratic functions and activity, students are
their binomial pairs. able to change the
value of ‘a’
(coefficients) in the
equation to see the
changes that happen
to the graph.
CCP & GCs subject specific concepts
-Developing numeracy skills -Understands and explains how coefficients can alter a quadratic
for further understanding function
-Thinking critically about the -Understands the relationship between binomials and quadratic
task and how factors are roots
related to each other
Discipline specific skills
-Communicated the meaning of words used in their context and how
to identify these terms when referred to
Time Teaching and learning actions Organisation Centred
T/S
0-5 Lesson Preliminaries/Administration Teacher: Preparing the class T
 Settle students into the classroom. for the topic, minor
 Mark the roll. administrative duty
 Success criteria and learning intention
explained. Student: Getting into
 Group students according to levels. assigned groups

Resources: Smart board,

student books
5-15 Direct Instruction Teacher: Providing T
 Welcome students and remind them discussion, demonstrating
of the topic and links to prior learning. using smart board,
 Brief discussion of areas where topic is explaining task
applicable in fields such as science and
engineering Student: Writing in books,
 Brief overview of ICT tools in Maths. participating in class
 PARABOLIC GRAPHS discussion
o What is a parabola?
o What are parabolic graphs? Resources: Smart board,
 Functions related to parabolic graphs. student books
Teacher introduces the concepts listed
above using an interactive infographic.
 Let’s look at how the graph should
have been plotted.
Ask students: What do you the think the
relationship between these two variables?
15-30 Group Work Teacher: Monitoring S
 At the end of the explanation, students, answering
students are asked to visit the questions, providing
following website: extension when needed
https://www.desmos.com/calculator
(Website changed as the link was no Student: Attempting task,
longer valid and new website allows asking questions, discussing
for extension of topic) in group
 to try adding different values of ‘a’
into the equation and see the Resources: Smart board,
difference in the graph. student books and
 Try different values of all coefficients laptops/tablets
in the equation to see changes in the
graph
 EXTENSION: look at cubic and quartic
functions. Does changing the
coefficients affect the functions in the
same way? Why/why not?

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30-40 Peer sharing and questioning Teacher: Facilitating T/S
 Students peer share and discuss how discussion, providing “what
and “what if?” if?” cases, answering and
 Collaborate on proposed solutions to asking questions, guiding
address maths problems. discussion
Teacher leads brief class discussion to
summarise and clarify they applied geometric Student: Engaging in
concepts. discussion, asking and
Lead into discussion based on prior answering questions, taking
knowledge of the relationship between notes of findings
quadratics and binomials
Ask students: What do you think the Resources: Smart board,
relationship between quadratic graphs and student books and
their related binomials is? laptops/tablets

40-55 Group work Teacher: Monitoring S

 Return to students, answering
https://www.desmos.com/calculator questions, providing
 Try different sets of binomials and see extension when needed
the differences in the graph
 Suggest using two of the same Student: Attempting task,
binomial to see if that creates a asking questions, discussing
change in group
 EXTENSION: Try adding more
binomials to the equation. Does this Resources: Smart board,
affect the functions in the same way? student books and
Why/why not? laptops/tablets
55-60 Direct Instruction Teacher: Finishing class T
Teacher consolidation of the learning and discussion, mentioning what
success criteria. was done in the lesson,
Suggest to students, ways of expanding on providing extension for
knowledge in non-required ways such as students
applications to other fields
Student: Resolving notes
taken, asking questions of
themselves and others
about understanding

Resources: Smart board,

student books

Justification

6
With the plan for the class about graphing parabolas there were several areas in which there was
a lack of attention to problematic knowledge, high expectations, background knowledge and
connectedness. As these are key components to the quality teaching model, I have modified the
plan so as to implement the concepts into the lesson to improve the quality of teaching for the
students.

Problematic Knowledge involves taking different perspectives on a piece of information rather

than presenting it as fact. This aspect of teaching in generally hard to do in mathematics as it is a
logic-based subject but within this there is the multiple ways that understanding can be reached.
Initially the plan provided only one focus of study with a long amount of time spent on this
subject. By splitting the time spent on the group activity into two separate sections I will be able to
distribute these separate periods into being able to understand how the concepts behind graphing
quadratics function in two separate ways. What this allows is more thought about the problems to
be had especially for when test times come for the students, they can approach the relevant
problems from multiple different ways (Schukajlow & Krug, 2014).

Within an advanced maths class there should be high expectations as these are students that
should be aiming for tertiary studies involving maths. For a class to have high expectations, there
needs to be the encouragement to perform well and to try harder and more complex tasks. The
original plan lacked extensions for groups who finished the work quickly as well as provided
considerable time for students to complete a task that could realistically be completed in half the
time provided. In the new plan I would give the students multiple tasks in two separate periods so
that there is always something to be working on. In addition, I have provided two example
extension tasks for particularly fast working students so that they are never left without
something to work on. By giving the class high expectations, students will try to keep up with
those expectations and excel within the class (Gershenson & Papageorge 2018).

Background knowledge is a concept that is prevalent in almost all maths classrooms, but it is very
rarely explicitly mentioned as, especially in advanced maths classrooms, most background
knowledge is also presumed knowledge. However, as it is not explicitly mentioned there are cases
where older knowledge can become disassociated with the concept being taught leading to a lack
of understanding on the topic as a whole. While the original plan mentions “Links to prior
learning”, there is a lack of actual explanation of what these links are as well as its mention being
in a short ten-minute section with a considerable number of concepts to get through. In the
updated plan I have integrated the students background knowledge into the class by introducing a
group learning section about binomials which is a concept strongly related to quadratic functions.
This allows students to gain a greater understanding of the topic and helps them retain
information about previously taught concepts (Stevens et al., 2009).

Finally, connectedness is shown by the extent that a student will use a given topic when outside of
the classroom and in real life contexts. This is a concept that mathematics is probably criticised
the most for, however, as this is for an advanced maths class there are many ways in which
students will use the information being taught in this class. As his is an advanced mathematics
class there is significant likelihood that these students are going to go into tertiary studies of
science, engineering, IT or mathematics itself and therefore we can refer to them when providing
uses for this topic in the real world. This topic in particular is a building block subject where many

7
concepts such as calculus and motion are derived from. From this, students will be more able to
see the relevancy of the subject and hence become more engaged in the classroom.

Clearly by modifying the lesson plan to follow the quality teaching guidelines, students will receive
better quality teaching. From this they will be better able to perform in the classroom as well as
improve their personal level of engagement with the classwork.

References
Gershenson, S., & Papageorge, N. (2018). The power of teacher expectations. Education
Next, 18(1) Retrieved from http://ezproxy.uws.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/docview/2123679744?accountid=36155

Schukajlow, S., & Krug, A. (2014). Do Multiple Solutions Matter? Prompting Multiple Solutions,
Interest, Competence, and Autonomy. Journal For Research In Mathematics Education, 45(4), 497.
https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.45.4.0497

Stevens, T., Harris, G., Aguirre-Munoz, Z., & Cobbs, L. (2009). A case study approach to increasing
teachers’ mathematics knowledge for teaching and strategies for building students’ maths self-
efficacy. International Journal Of Mathematical Education In Science And Technology, 40(7), 903-
914. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207390903199269

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