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Opportunities for Learning – A Self-Study of Teaching Statistics in a Mathematics Learning Centre

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What Counts in Teaching Mathematics

Part of the book series: Self Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices ((STEP,volume 11))

Abstract

Abstract Self-study is an analytic way of shedding light on personal narratives in order to reveal insights about practice. In this paper I identify experiences and research that stand out as promoting my reflexive thinking about teaching and learning statistics. I highlight findings from early research that led me to challenge assumptions about students’ activities in the Mathematics Learning Centre and question whose needs are being served by my endeavours. Scholarship has enabled me to submit interpretations and ideas from research projects to the scrutiny of others and hence advance my own thinking about pedagogy. Less visibly, engagement with participants in research projects has enabled me to re-energise my practice by providing a source of motivation and inspiration. I identify how tensions within the wider arena of higher education impinge on practice and, on a more experiential level, demonstrate how everyday experiences of incongruity can spark awareness to “notice” (Mason, Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing, 2002) problems or situations in teaching. Finally, I review what educational activity could mean in the context of my practice.

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Correspondence to Sue Gordon .

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Gordon, S. (2011). Opportunities for Learning – A Self-Study of Teaching Statistics in a Mathematics Learning Centre. In: Schuck, S., Pereira, P. (eds) What Counts in Teaching Mathematics. Self Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0461-9_9

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