More than 60 UK mathematicians have spoken out against guidance on academic standards that values of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) “should permeate the curriculum and every aspect of the learning experience.” An open letter opposing the politicisation of degrees in mathematics, statistics, and operations research (MSOR), signed by academics from higher education institutions across the…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said an “anti-maths mindset” is holding the economy back, as he announced a review on boosting the nation’s poor levels of numeracy. Sunak, who was an investment banker before entering politics, told a north London audience on Monday that the UK remains “one of the least numerate countries in…

BRUSSELS—EU antitrust regulators gave unconditional approval for Alphabet unit Google’s acquisition of Croatian maths app Photomath, the European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday. The EU Commission said the deal would not reduce competition in the markets for “online homework and study help tools that include maths as a subject offering and general search…

“Faddish” maths teaching practices are harming students’ learning and leading to education failure, three researchers have declared. In a new paper, “Myths That Undermine Maths Teaching,” published by the Centre of Independent Studies, Sarah Powell, Elizabeth Hughes, and Corey Peltier said this meant maths learning wasn’t optimised. “Myths have become so commonplace because teachers are regularly…

With maths standards declining in Australian schools for the past two decades, one expert believes the key to fixing this problem is dealing with something called “maths aversion.” Laura Tuohilampi of at UNSW’s School of Education and author of new book “Seriously Fun Maths”, has spent the past 17 years in Finland and Australia working…

With Australia now holding a secondary school mathematics ranking of 29 out of the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, a drop of 18 places compared to 20 years ago, a new international paper co-authored by a University of South Australia cognitive psychologist shows that hand gestures may provide part of the solution….

The New South Wales (NSW) education curriculum for Years 3 to 10 will be undergoing major changes as policymakers attempt to address the issue of deteriorating performance. The draft curriculum, which was published on Friday for consultation, proposes the shift back towards rote learning in maths and places greater emphasis on writing skills. This builds…

An ongoing ideological bias against explicit instruction in maths classrooms is the biggest reason why Australia’s performance in the subject continues to slide, according to experts. An analysis paper, ‘Failing to Teach the Teacher’, published by the Centre for Independent Studies, found that Australia’s universities were failing to teach effective instruction methods to future maths…

Australians are becoming less proficient and interested in maths, causing a serious decline in national maths standards. The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) revealed that in 2018, Australia fell to the OECD average for maths for the first time according to PISA testing results. Using 2003 results as a benchmark, the decline amounts to…

The Oregon Department of Education has recommended a toolkit to all of its middle school teachers in order to make math less racist. Over the weekend, major cities on the West Coast, such as Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle, had riots and violent demonstrations break out on the city streets. In Florida, the attorney general…