While schools are pushing towards a STEM focus to equip students with the skills needed for the future, a university academic argued this is the wrong approach.
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The NSW Department of Education have planned to boost numeracy test results by tackling the fear of maths and restoring teachers’ confidence in the subject.
"We want to make maths beautiful," said Jenny Donovan, the executive director of the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation.
However, CSU’s Dr Dave Ritchie argued that the push for STEM related subjects means social issues are falling behind.
“Science, technology, engineering and mathematics focus is problematic, because significant contextual issues like philosophy, ethics and politics are becoming lost,” Dr Ritchie said.
“It’s a real shame because these are issues that affect us in society, like transport, population density and the impact of technology on our daily lives.
“Having the ability to challenge and and question is a core part of our society and it’s problematic to lose this.”
The department is hoping to match the improvement seen in reading results at NSW public school students.
“Recent research from the Department of Education’s project Education for a Changing World, suggested that the world of the future and employment opportunities will increasingly be affected by artificial intelligence,” a spokesperson said.
According to Maltas and Prescott, “education systems may need to look afresh at the mathematical skills students will need to successfully engage in an AI world.”
“In a world of big data, just as significant is the extent to which sufficient attention is being provided to developing students’ skills in, for example, statistics, and whether changes to mathematics curricula over the last few years will be enough to ensure all students develop a deeper understanding of core mathematical concepts.”
Another approach might be to show students the importance of mathematical skills in subjects like economics, business and art, including its core use in architecture.