Project Maths is a brand new approach to teaching and learning mathematics – and on Monday, 1,800 Leaving Cert students will sit the first exam based on this new, user-friendly maths syllabus

I QUALIFIED AS a maths teacher two years ago, and one term into teaching the old syllabus, I was asked by Batt O’Keeffe to take up the role of teachers’ representative for Project Maths. This is a new approach to the subject, not just a syllabus review but an overhaul of how we learn, teach and think about maths.

I have spent the last two years helping teachers and students to get to grips with the new approach. I must admit, it wasn’t easy at first.

The new course was unnerving for teachers accustomed to the old approach, to teaching with books and sample questions. They had to take a “constructionist” approach, building their teaching plans using methods like discovery learning, with no books. It was hard to get used to.

One group that had no difficulty with Project Maths was the first-year students. They were used to this approach to learning from their experience of the primary curriculum. Teachers reported first years stating that maths was now their new favourite subject.

We have also learned that these students retain what they have learned very effectively at the end of the programme.

I did not teach the old syllabus for long, but I studied it in school and was trained in it in college.

Project Maths is much more creative, more engaging, with real world examples of how maths is used to solve problems.

My primary degree was in theoretical physics and I learned in college how maths underpins so many activities, from architecture to engine design to statistics to particle physics.

The biggest change that the 1,800 Project Maths students can expect on Monday is they will have no choice on the paper. This is a big improvement on the old scheme because it means that the exam offers a level playing field for all students – you won’t fall down because your “banker” turns out to be too difficult.

The exam will present students with problems that demand broad mathematical knowledge to solve. That’s how maths is used in university and in the real world.

There are those who fear that Project Maths represents a softening of the subject because some areas, such as vectors, have been left out.

Some teachers are worried that students taking maths or engineering at third level will be disadvantaged by the loss of some mathematical disciplines.

However, Project Maths is designed to foster a relational understanding of the subject, helping students to think mathematically and gain confidence in maths. This confidence and skill will be transferable to other disciplines at a later stage.

The syllabus as it stands is absolutely vast and there is no opportunity for students to engage in the kind of real mathematical problem-solving that they will experience in college.

Another difference between Project Maths and the old syllabus is that it is not set in stone. We believe the subject will evolve as teachers are encouraged to share teaching plans and materials. It’s a wonderful, collaborative initiative from this point of view.

Is there a risk that as papers and books become available, teachers will start “teaching to the exam” again?

I don’t believe so: this is not a revised syllabus, it’s a new approach to teaching and learning. Each teacher will get 10 days of in-service and access to further training in the evenings.

It’s such a radical departure for the Leaving Cert – it will hopefully remain free of the old constraints.

I’m not sentimental about the old maths syllabus. My favourite subjects in school and college were algebra and calculus. Since taking on Project Maths, I have new favourites; statistics and probability because I have new insights into how they relate to real-world contexts.

I love teaching them because the students are getting it too.

Projects Maths is still a difficult and challenging subject, but now ties in with my view of what maths is all about, a fundamental problem-solving skill that is the foundation of countless human endeavours. Project Maths makes that link.

Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin is a maths teacher at St Mark’s Community School Tallaght. She is a member of the Department of Education’s Project Maths Implementation Support Group. Project Maths will be introduced into all schools by 2012