Background to the Conference
The Conversations on Knowledge for Teaching conference has been developed to build upon previous work by the project team during the Building the Culture of Evidence-based Practice in Teacher Preparation for Mathematics Teaching (CEMENT) project.
As the title suggests, the CEMENT project had a mathematics teaching focus. The project team believes that what they learned from CEMENT is that there are common features to 'evidence-based practice for teacher development', and while they were researching in a mathematics setting, the key concepts had a much broader application. It is their aim to initiate conversations on these ideas with the wider teaching community. Hence, Conversations on Knowledge for Teaching.
Our speakers and presenters have been selected for their leadership in education research. True to the historical development of the CEMENT project, the mathematics background is strong, yet our careful selection is set to demonstrate the universal aspects of knowledge for teaching, and invite you and your own expertise into the conversation.
As the title suggests, the CEMENT project had a mathematics teaching focus. The project team believes that what they learned from CEMENT is that there are common features to 'evidence-based practice for teacher development', and while they were researching in a mathematics setting, the key concepts had a much broader application. It is their aim to initiate conversations on these ideas with the wider teaching community. Hence, Conversations on Knowledge for Teaching.
Our speakers and presenters have been selected for their leadership in education research. True to the historical development of the CEMENT project, the mathematics background is strong, yet our careful selection is set to demonstrate the universal aspects of knowledge for teaching, and invite you and your own expertise into the conversation.
Conference Format
Conversations on Knowledge for Teaching will be just that: a conference on the knowledge required for innovative teaching and deep learning, but conversational in style. Key note addresses will be shorter than typical conferences; theme presenters will only have 5 minutes to present their papers; and parallel sessions will be limited to about 20 delegates. This conference will be a reasonably small conference, with 100 places available for delegates.
You will have an active role in the conference. To engage in the conference conversations, you will need to read presenter papers before attending the presentation sessions. The 5 minutes available to the presenter to 'present' their paper will act as a refresher to your reading, as well as update the group on emerging ideas and any new thinking that has occurred to the presenter since writing the paper. Thereafter, the conversation begins. The conversation is open to everyone to contribute to. Critical debate and exploration of radical ideas is encouraged.
Presenter papers will be available on the conference website Themes pages by December 2014.
You will have an active role in the conference. To engage in the conference conversations, you will need to read presenter papers before attending the presentation sessions. The 5 minutes available to the presenter to 'present' their paper will act as a refresher to your reading, as well as update the group on emerging ideas and any new thinking that has occurred to the presenter since writing the paper. Thereafter, the conversation begins. The conversation is open to everyone to contribute to. Critical debate and exploration of radical ideas is encouraged.
Presenter papers will be available on the conference website Themes pages by December 2014.
After the Conference
We don't want the conversation to end at the conclusion of the conference. We hope everyone takes the opportunity to continue developing ideas about knowledge for teaching, and extend the conversation to your colleagues and education students. For those inclined to do so, we also hope to see writing and publications grow in the next few years, particularly in non-mathematics subjects, and across all sectors of education.
This website and presenter papers will be available online for a minimum of 3 years following the conclusion of the conference.
Another planned outcome is for presenters and delegates to extend the conference conversations by way of writing a book chapter (collaboration is welcome) to be published when complete.
This website and presenter papers will be available online for a minimum of 3 years following the conclusion of the conference.
Another planned outcome is for presenters and delegates to extend the conference conversations by way of writing a book chapter (collaboration is welcome) to be published when complete.
About the CEMENT Project
The Building the Culture of Evidence-based Practice in Teacher Preparation for Mathematics Teaching (CEMENT) project commenced in 2010 to ultimately contribute a national culture of evidence-based tertiary pre-service teacher education programs. Background and rationale to the project can be read from the CEMENT University of Tasmania webpage. The project was funded by the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT).
The project team undertook the development of an extensive range of mathematical questions that challenged teacher knowledge. The questions developed are in a range of formats, from multiple-choice, short answer, and discussion starters. Quite specifically, they often have no right or wrong answers, rather, for some questions there may be better or worse choices, but the important part of the questions are to make teacher knowledge evident, through the combination of content knowledge, pedagogical strategy and knowledge of student learning and misconceptions that is evident through teacher responses. In essence: pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).
Over the course of the project, these questions were repeatedly tested, analysed and refined. Conference presentations were made, roadshows held in Armidale, Sunshine Coast, Perth, and Adelaide, and journal articles were written. The final report for the project can be viewed from the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) website.
To conclude the project in 2012, a conference was held at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), with a key note address presented by Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington from the Australian National University (ANU), and attended by education academics from around Australia. Other key speakers included Associate Professor Rosemary Callingham (UTAS), Professor Kim Beswick (UTAS), Associate Professor Helen Chick (UTAS), Dr Pep Serow, University of New England (UNE), and Dr Helen Keats, University of Queensland (UQ). The Examiner newspaper and University of Tasmania provided media coverage of the conference.
The concepts and items from CEMENT continue to be used and developed by the project team and conference delegates. Of particular note is the Powerful Knowledge project, a collaboration between the University of Tasmania in Australia and Massey University in New Zealand, exploring the essential knowledge for teaching in mathematics and English with a curriculum comparison framework. Margaret Marshman and Glorianne Porter, both from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) have incorporated CEMENT materials into their teaching presented on these at conferences. Lecturer and PhD candidate David Martin, from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), has used the CEMENT items as a key research tool in his PhD research.
The project team undertook the development of an extensive range of mathematical questions that challenged teacher knowledge. The questions developed are in a range of formats, from multiple-choice, short answer, and discussion starters. Quite specifically, they often have no right or wrong answers, rather, for some questions there may be better or worse choices, but the important part of the questions are to make teacher knowledge evident, through the combination of content knowledge, pedagogical strategy and knowledge of student learning and misconceptions that is evident through teacher responses. In essence: pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).
Over the course of the project, these questions were repeatedly tested, analysed and refined. Conference presentations were made, roadshows held in Armidale, Sunshine Coast, Perth, and Adelaide, and journal articles were written. The final report for the project can be viewed from the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) website.
To conclude the project in 2012, a conference was held at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), with a key note address presented by Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington from the Australian National University (ANU), and attended by education academics from around Australia. Other key speakers included Associate Professor Rosemary Callingham (UTAS), Professor Kim Beswick (UTAS), Associate Professor Helen Chick (UTAS), Dr Pep Serow, University of New England (UNE), and Dr Helen Keats, University of Queensland (UQ). The Examiner newspaper and University of Tasmania provided media coverage of the conference.
The concepts and items from CEMENT continue to be used and developed by the project team and conference delegates. Of particular note is the Powerful Knowledge project, a collaboration between the University of Tasmania in Australia and Massey University in New Zealand, exploring the essential knowledge for teaching in mathematics and English with a curriculum comparison framework. Margaret Marshman and Glorianne Porter, both from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) have incorporated CEMENT materials into their teaching presented on these at conferences. Lecturer and PhD candidate David Martin, from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), has used the CEMENT items as a key research tool in his PhD research.
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