Challenges in applying principles from cognitive science to the design of a school mathematics curriculum.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Challenges in applying principles from cognitive science to the design of a school mathematics curriculum.
Authors: Foster, Colin1 c.foster@lboro.ac.uk, Woollacott, Bethany1, Francome, Tom1, Shore, Chris1, Peters, Caroline1, Morley, Hannah1
Source: Curriculum Journal. Sep2024, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p489-513. 25p.
Subject Terms: *Cognitive science, *Mathematics education, *Curriculum planning, *Educational resources, *Multimedia systems in education, Parsimonious models
Abstract: There are increasingly frequent calls for school mathematics curricula to be informed by robust research evidence. One approach to achieving this is designing evidence‐informed learning and teaching resources for the classroom. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences of designing a free and fully resourced complete set of secondary mathematics curriculum materials. We explore in detail the challenges we have encountered in our attempts to apply principles from the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. We focus on tensions we have experienced when simultaneously applying multiple principles and balancing these with other educational considerations. Specifically, we consider trade‐offs between redundancy versus clarity, seductive details versus richness, personalisation and emotional design versus abstraction, spatial contiguity and signalling versus parsimony, and pre‐training and worked examples versus exploration. We examine the choices and dilemmas we faced, and illustrate our emerging attempts to resolve these tensions through presenting multiple examples from our design work. We conclude with recommendations about how tensions among these design principles might be navigated in curriculum design and we suggest possible avenues for further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Curriculum Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 178332766
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Challenges in applying principles from cognitive science to the design of a school mathematics curriculum.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Foster%2C+Colin%22">Foster, Colin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> c.foster@lboro.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Woollacott%2C+Bethany%22">Woollacott, Bethany</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Francome%2C+Tom%22">Francome, Tom</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Shore%2C+Chris%22">Shore, Chris</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Peters%2C+Caroline%22">Peters, Caroline</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Morley%2C+Hannah%22">Morley, Hannah</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Curriculum+Journal%22">Curriculum Journal</searchLink>. Sep2024, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p489-513. 25p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+science%22">Cognitive science</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematics+education%22">Mathematics education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Curriculum+planning%22">Curriculum planning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+resources%22">Educational resources</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multimedia+systems+in+education%22">Multimedia systems in education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parsimonious+models%22">Parsimonious models</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: There are increasingly frequent calls for school mathematics curricula to be informed by robust research evidence. One approach to achieving this is designing evidence‐informed learning and teaching resources for the classroom. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences of designing a free and fully resourced complete set of secondary mathematics curriculum materials. We explore in detail the challenges we have encountered in our attempts to apply principles from the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. We focus on tensions we have experienced when simultaneously applying multiple principles and balancing these with other educational considerations. Specifically, we consider trade‐offs between redundancy versus clarity, seductive details versus richness, personalisation and emotional design versus abstraction, spatial contiguity and signalling versus parsimony, and pre‐training and worked examples versus exploration. We examine the choices and dilemmas we faced, and illustrate our emerging attempts to resolve these tensions through presenting multiple examples from our design work. We conclude with recommendations about how tensions among these design principles might be navigated in curriculum design and we suggest possible avenues for further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Curriculum Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=178332766
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1002/curj.249
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 25
        StartPage: 489
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Cognitive science
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematics education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Curriculum planning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational resources
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Multimedia systems in education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parsimonious models
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Challenges in applying principles from cognitive science to the design of a school mathematics curriculum.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Foster, Colin
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Woollacott, Bethany
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Francome, Tom
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Shore, Chris
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Peters, Caroline
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Morley, Hannah
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 09
              Text: Sep2024
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 09585176
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 35
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Curriculum Journal
              Type: main
ResultId 1