The matter in summary Subjects and professors are concerned about the mathematics skills of Norwegian students and criticize the curriculum. The pupils think there is too much discussion and reflection, and too little actual calculation in the mathematics subject. University lecturers observe that many students lack basic knowledge in algebra and fractions. The failure rate in mathematics has been high in recent years, and those who fail often lack basic arithmetic skills. New curricula in mathematics are criticized for being less concrete and focusing more on discussion than on mathematical operations. The Directorate of Education believes it is too early to say anything about the effects of the new curricula. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – There is a lot of open discussion and reflection tasks. It prevents us from calculating with pen and paper, says Katharina Nilssen. She is in the third year of the research program at Bodin secondary school in Bodø together with Johan Juhl Simensen and Alvin Joensen. They believe that the most difficult mathematics you can take at secondary school, which is called R2, contains too much talking and little calculation. – It would have been better to just focus on doing the task itself. To save and get all the forms in, get to know them and get to use them. It doesn’t help much to talk about it, says Simensen. Johan Juhl Simensen thinks there is too much talking and too little calculation in mathematics. Photo: Per-Magne Steen / news It could get in the way of their dream of studying to become an engineer. – When we come to the exam, you are not allowed to sit and discuss with a friend during the exam. So you will get a lot more out of actually being able to do the task on paper, says Joensen. The students receive support from professors and other professionals from higher education in Norway. High failure rate Professor of applied mathematics Carina Bringedal and university lecturer Kristine Selvikvag Lundervold at the University of Western Norway say that many of the students come to them from further education without knowing basic arithmetic skills. – We see that the failure rate in our mathematics subjects has been very high in recent years. And we see that those who fail, fail because they lack basic numeracy skills, says Bringedal. It is within, for example, algebra, fractions, percentages and powers that there are knowledge gaps, she says. Johan Juhl Simensen, Katharina Nilssen and Alvin Joensen think there is too much talking and not enough calculation in mathematics lessons. Photo: Per-Magne Steen / news – It seems that it is difficult for the students to sit down with pen and paper and actually do a calculation. Many people are not quite familiar with it. This makes it difficult for the university lecturers to teach the students the things they are supposed to. – We want to build on what they can already do. But when they have such big gaps, it is very difficult to build on that and progress in the curriculum, says Bringedal. Due to the high failure rate in the autumn semester 2022, the university instituted a mapping test to give the engineering students with low results an offer of extra follow-up and repetition courses, says Lundervold. – We believe that this contributed to the lower failure rate for the engineering students in Mathematics 1 in autumn 2023, she says. But both think this could have been avoided if it hadn’t been for the new curriculum. Department director in the Directorate of Education, Hedda Birgitte Huse says it is too early to say anything about the effects of the new curricula. Photo: Per-Magne Steen / news The new curriculum is the problem – The new curriculum is less concrete, and focuses more on words such as that the pupils should explore, deal with and set an example. So to a much greater extent talking about mathematics than doing the mathematical operations, says Professor Bringedal. She says the old plan was concrete. The students had to carry out, find, carry out, calculate and solve. – There are good ideas behind talking about mathematics. But it has unfortunately gone beyond the calculation skills, says Bringedal. She believes that the time is now spent on other things, and then the pupils do not have time to actually learn the arithmetic skills, and they are needed before you can move on. Bringedal first shared his concern with seven other professionals in a column in Aftenposten. Katharina Nilssen says the disadvantage of all the talk may be that they don’t get to memorize the formulas completely. And that they don’t understand it quite as thoroughly on paper as they should. Photo: Per-Magne Steen / news Department director in the Directorate of Education, Hedda Birgitte Huse, says it is too early to say anything about the effects of the new curricula. – Because the first pupils who have completed secondary school with the new curricula started higher education last autumn. Read the full answer from Huse further down in the article. The pandemic and computer use can play a role Professionals from other universities are also concerned about the numeracy skills of Norwegian students. – I have observed over time that the students who come have too few elementary skills, such as algebra, says professor of mathematics, Per Kristen Jakobsen at UiT. The Pisa survey in 2022 shows that the pupils’ ability to reason mathematically and to formulate, use and interpret mathematics to solve problems has declined sharply since 2018. And Norwegian pupils perform below the average in the OECD area in mathematics. Several professors from UiO and NMBU believe that reasons other than the new curriculum can play a role, such as the pandemic and computer use: NTB University in Oslo – Our impression is that numeracy skills have weakened over time, but there are several factors that come into play, and it is it is difficult to know what has the greatest effect, says professor and mathematician Tom Louis Lindstrøm. He believes the most important factors are the pandemic, data use and the new curriculum. – I suspect that the new curriculum will lead to a further weakening of math skills. Jorunn Hatling Norwegian University of Environmental and Biosciences – It seems that knowledge has decreased compared to the past. But it is difficult to say what is caused by a new curriculum, and what is caused by corona measures or other changes in society, says associate professor at NMBU, Geir Bogfjellmo. He is most concerned about the students who come from a weaker background than R2. – Here there are many people who struggle with a completely basic concept. Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen University of Tromsø – Norway’s Arctic University – I have observed over time that the students who come have too few elementary skills, such as algebra, says Professor Per Kristen Jakobsen at UiT. It has long been a problem, he believes. NTB Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) – We are noticing a decline in calculation skills, in processing algebraic expressions. This is what the professors of mathematics at NTNU, Marius Thaule, Frode Rønning and Heidi Strømskag, say. – Furthermore, we are noticing a decline in the students’ abilities to convert from text assignments to mathematical notation, they say. They believe this has been a problem for longer than the new curriculum. To enter engineering studies, you must have R2 mathematics from secondary school. It is the most theoretical maths subject you can take at secondary school. And Professor Bringedal claims that they have students who have good grades in the subject, but struggle with arithmetic. – This has to do with the fact that the form of assessment in R2 has changed. She says that before you had to have good numeracy skills to get a good grade in R2. While now the explanatory part is emphasized on the exam. – Many of those who have a good grade in R2 may not have the numeracy skills, but they have been good at explaining things. Unfortunately, they still have problems solving tasks on their own. – Compound problem The director of the department in the Directorate of Education is also concerned about the numeracy skills of Norwegian students. “Several surveys and figures indicate that Norwegian pupils’ competence in mathematics is moving in the wrong direction,” says Huse. The results from exams, national tests and international examinations have gone down, she says. – This is a complex problem with no simple solutions, and we would like to have the university and colleges on the team when we are going to investigate this more closely. Department director in the Directorate of Education, Hedda Birgitte Huse. Photo: Ida Titlestad Dahlback – Does the new curriculum give students less time to count? – One aim of the design of the curricula from 2020 was to emphasize the need for pupils to understand what they are learning. Central to the mathematics curricula is that the pupils can argue for procedures and reflect on the answers they get, says Huse. She adds that at the same time it is a central intention with the education in mathematics that the pupils should be able to develop calculation skills. But it is the schools and the teachers who can best make good choices about how to solve this. But the directorate takes the feedback from the professors and students on board, and will now assess the need for measures. Read the full response from the Directorate of Education here: What do they think about the criticism of the curriculum from 2020? – We think it is too early to say anything about the effects of the new curricula because the first pupils who have completed secondary school with the new curricula started higher education last autumn. At the same time, we are keen to closely monitor the effects of the new curricula and how they work in practice, among other things through a research-based follow-up evaluation which is underway. We are taking note of the feedback that is coming in and will in future assess the need for measures, says department director in the Directorate of Education, Hedda Birgitte Huse. – We agree that the results in mathematics are worrying. This autumn we will also get more information about Norwegian pupils’ competence in mathematics, through an anthology of the PISA results which will be published in October and the results of another international survey, TIMSS, which will be published in December. This is a complex problem with no simple solutions, and we would like to have the universities and colleges on the team when we are going to examine this more closely. – Does the new curriculum give the pupils less time to count? – One aim of the design of the curricula from 2020 was to emphasize the need for pupils to understand what they are learning. Central to the curricula in mathematics is that the pupils can argue for procedures and reflect on the answers they get. At the same time, it is a central intention with the education in mathematics that the pupils should develop calculation skills. But it is the schools and the teachers who stand in the classroom who can best make good choices about how this is to be achieved so that the pupils achieve the goals in the curricula. What do they think that these professionals from the university think that even the students with good grades in R2 struggle to do a calculation? – Several surveys and figures indicate that Norwegian pupils’ competence in mathematics is moving in the wrong direction. The results from exams, national tests and international surveys point in the same direction, that they have gone down. We share the concern about this. The first cohort to receive training according to the new curricula (LK20) started higher education last autumn, so it is too early to draw conclusions that the curricula are the cause based on one cohort. What can be done to ensure that these students get better numeracy skills that will prepare them for further education? – Calculation skills are a central part of competence in mathematics and are essential to acquire competence in the subject. Arithmetic is also one of five prioritized basic skills in the curricula. It is crucial that teachers and schools continue to prioritize further developing mathematics education based on the curricula. Among other things, it is about concretizing what kind of knowledge and skills the pupils need to achieve the goals in the curricula. Both county councils, municipalities, universities and colleges and the Directorate of Education have important roles in supporting the schools in this work and in contributing to competence development when needed. Published 19.09.2024, at 16.54
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New curriculum in mathematics creates problem – too little focus on arithmetic – news Nordland
