The Logic of Hands on Mathematics




Questacon, Australia's National Science and Technology Centre has for nearly 40 years been bringing hands on enquiry based learning to the millions of people that have come through its exhibitions, and been captivated by its outreach programs. In recent years working with our national science teachers association (ASTA) and the Learning Science researchers at the University of Canberra, we have been refining and confirming the power of our  humble but rich explorations into the areas of Science and natural phenomena.

Most recently we have moved to re-activate our initiatives in the areas of mathematics, computational thinking and STEM in its fullest meaning. As we finalise the first phase of our new portable exhibition on mathematical and logical thinking - "Byte Wise", we have been developing teacher development workshops to re-enforce hands on and enquiry based activities within the teaching of mathematics, especially with a focus on the areas of problem solving, logic and computational thinking.
The workshops will be run in May in various parts of Brunei, are supported by OGDC ( the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre). The program will target teachers of primary school mathematics and masters students of education. Stay tuned for the results. Let's see what we can do with some dental floss, some map pins, and paper plates.
My sights are next set on Mongolia, where the radical transformations being driven by the extraction of natural resources, and the associated development and skills shortages, might well be supported by an equally nomadic approach to supported learning.

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