Novel frameworks for upskilling the mathematics education workforce

This chapter introduces some novel educational frameworks that provide the opportunity for mathematics educators to not only engage students through mathematical tools to represent, understand and solve real-world problems but also engage them in using tools to make a decision, prediction or solution about a real-world problem. This helps prepare students to become life-long learners who can then go on to pursue state-of-the-art jobs. To create this next-generation cohort of students, however, we must upskill our current educators with pedagogical practices that go beyond just delivering content. In particular, mathematics education must include a variety of learning approaches including experiential learning, inquiry-based learning, challenge-based learning and interdisciplinary problem-based learning. Here the author provides some learning frameworks and benchmark-example mathematical tasks to compare the effectiveness of these approaches. He considers authentic mathematical tasks that incorporate a shared collaborative experience to advance mathematics teaching and learning in the 21st century.