Maths Mastery in FE – Term 1 – How’s it Going?

Action Research Group 1

Following the disruption caused by COVID in the last academic year, this year we have got off to a strong start.  Fingers crossed this will continue!  Over the summer we recruited 2 new enthusiastic team members, who have got stuck in straight away planning and researching our project.  After reviewing all the literature around Maths Mastery, we decided our research would be based around a series of bespoke workshops; analysing their impact on student confidence and ability.  These will be delivered using a mastery approach based on the “Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract” method, and applying the ‘teach less, teach more’ theory which focuses on depth rather than speed.  By mastering specific topics, students will be equipped with a transferable skillset that can be applied across the curriculum.    The topic for this term is Percentages, and we will be going right back to basics so students will be able to really understand core concepts and apply them in different scenarios.

We are currently in the midst of collecting our first round of ‘snapshot’ analysis, from both students and teachers, to understand how the workshops have impacted classroom behaviours and attitudes towards Maths.  As the name suggests, these are a ‘snapshot’ in time and will be repeated throughout the year so we can track changes over time.  Engagement has been slow, which was expected, but with encouragement from teachers and tutors alike we are slowly starting to build momentum.  And for those who have attended we’ve had some great feedback so far, which we will be able to share with you at a later date.

The team are also currently busy preparing the next round of Mastery workshops, commencing after the Christmas holidays.  The theme for this block will be Fractions and will follow a similar approach to our current Percentages block.  Watch this space for more updates on how we are progressing….