Latest news with #maths
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Australia's Best Teachers: Fixing our maths, science teaching ‘crisis'
Two in five Australian high school students are learning maths from teachers without formal qualifications in the subject. But universities are boosting teachers' skills through new short courses – and are calling for support to rapidly expand them to tackle the nationwide issue. News Corp has this week launched the third year of its Australia's Best Teachers advocacy series to celebrate the positive impact educators have and tackle workforce challenges in our schools. This year's series is presented in partnership with Officeworks, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, Education Perfect and Big Ass Fans. Teachers around the country, through no fault of their own, are being forced to teach subjects outside their areas of expertise due to workforce shortages. A 2024 report by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute found maths was taught by out-of-field teachers 40 per cent of the time. And the most recent Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership workforce survey found 20 per cent of maths teachers, 29 per cent of technology teachers and 11 per cent of science teachers had no formal qualifications in those areas. Southern Cross University and Charles Sturt University have each developed microcredentials to upskill out-of-field teachers in maths, trialling them on pilot cohorts. Maths lecturer and Southern Cross course co-ordinator Lewes Peddell said out-of-field teaching had reached a 'crisis point' where thousands of students went from years 7 to 10 without being taught by a teacher with a maths degree. Dr Peddell's 350-hour course is designed to upskill teachers and improve their 'confidence and competence' in six main areas of the maths curriculum. 'We have to remember that these are qualified teachers – they're just not qualified in mathematics, so it's about finding ways to bridge what they know from their own discipline areas into teaching maths,' he said. 'This micro-credential is a drop in the bucket, but it is a drop.' Mathematical Association of NSW executive director Darius Samojlowicz said out-of-field teaching had become so common that he 'quite regularly' encountered non-maths-trained teachers who have become head of their school's maths faculties. 'We can't solve this problem overnight but we can support those teachers who are in this situation right now,' he said. Dr Janelle Hill coordinates a short course for out-of-field teachers at Charles Sturt. 'There's an overall teacher shortage and a very unequal distribution in regional and rural and remote communities,' she said. 'It's a tricky one to solve, but something like this microcredential is making a big difference.' Kat Crow, head teacher at St Paul's Anglican Grammar School in rural Victoria, said she benefited enormously from the Southern Cross course after feeling 'like a unicorn' among maths teachers. Ms Crow said teachers must be given the time – and money – to access such programs. 'If I didn't have the school assist me with that, I may or may not have been able to make that choice,' she said. Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said STEM graduates were in high demand in the broader economy, so teaching needed better pay and conditions to attract more into the profession. The federal government's $18.5 million micro-credential trial, which includes a range of qualifications besides teaching, will end in June 2026. Education Minister Jason Clare said both student teacher training reform and support for current teachers was needed. 'Part of turning this around is improving teacher training at university to make sure teaching students are taught the fundamentals about how to teach children to read and write and do maths and how to manage disruptive classrooms,' he said.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
The 1% Club players stumped on tricky maths question as 13 players pass – but could you have got it right?
THE 1% Club left contestants scratching their heads after a devilishly tricky maths question saw just 13 players pass just to make it through. The hit ITV quiz show, fronted by funnyman Lee Mack, threw in a numbers puzzle that had the players panicking. 5 5 Instead of testing players on their general knowledge, 100 contestants try their luck at solving riddles within 30 seconds. On The 1% Club, they are whittled down round by round as they are tasked with using their logic, reasoning skills, and common sense. With every player that gets eliminated, £1,000 gets added to the prize pot as the players try to answer questions that certain percentages of the public would get right. The players that remain at the end will fight to win a potentially huge jackpot prize and a chance at joining the prestigious one percent club. But the the 35% question saw a whopping 13 players use their pass. Lee showed a picture of a coloured pie chart with numbers and asked: "What number replaces the question mark when you read it clockwise from the start?" The remaining players faces looked puzzled as they tried to figure out the answer within the 30 seconds. Lee then revealed the right answer was 27 as they alternate segments reveal consecutive multiples of three and 27 is the next number in the three times table. Lee was stunned to see that a massive 13 players used their pass to get through to the next round. The episode also saw an 'easy' common sense riddle knock out 23 people earlier on in the show. The 1% Club players stumped by 'easy' question that knocks out 23 people - would you have got it- When Lee moved onto the 70% question, he asked the remaining players to solve a question. Lee said: "John writes with his right hand and the last word he'd right if he was writing this sentence would be be. "If Keith writes with his left hand, what would be the last word he would write in the sentence above?" Of course the answer was the word 'be', as a different writing hand would not change the last word, something which many viewers playing along got correct. Hardest Quiz Show Questions Would you know the answers to some of quizzing TV's hardest questions Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Earlier this year, fans were left outraged after what they described as the "worst" question in the show's history. Host Jeremy Clarkson asked: 'From the 2000 awards ceremony onwards, the Best Actress Oscar has never been won by a woman whose surname begins with which one of these letters?' The multiple choice answers were between G, K, M and W. In the end, and with the £32,000 safe, player Glen had to make a guess and went for G. It turned out to be correct as Nicole Kidman, Frances McDormand and Kate Winslet are among the stars who have won the Best Actress gong since 2000. The 1% Club - Viewers of Lee Mack's popular ITV show were left dumbfounded by a question that also left the players perplexed. The query went as follows: "Edna's birthday is on the 6th of April and Jen's birthday falls on the 15th of October, therefore Amir's birthday must be the 'X' of January." It turns out the conundrum links the numbers with its position in the sentence, so 6th is the sixth word and 15th is the fifteenth word. Therefore, Amir's birthday is January 24th, corresponding to the 24th word in the sentence. The Chase - The ITV daytime favourite left fans scratching their heads when it threw up one of the most bizarre questions to ever grace the programme. One of the questions asked the player: "Someone with a nightshade intolerance should avoid eating what?" The options were - sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots - with Steve selecting sweetcorn but the correct answer was potatoes. However, a whopping 23 players in the studio answered the riddle incorrectly and they were eliminated from the game. Viewers took to social media in droves as they couldn't believe so many players left the game after such an 'easy' question One wrote: "How t* have 23 gone out?? Being left handed doesn't mean you write words in the wrong order." Another added: "Too many people thinking too hard on that one #The1PercentClub." A third penned: "TWENTY THREE out on THAT?!?!" The 1% Club is available to watch on ITV1 and stream on ITVX. 5 5
RNZ News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Putting the fun in maths
Polymath founders have their game being used in half of New Zealand's primary schools. Sophie and Christian Silver were looking for a solution to kids' anxiety to try doing maths work when they landed on creating a game. Polymath is a website and app game that lets kids control a character and explore a virtual world, with their own island. Players interact with and build new objects, but to continue the game there are maths questions that need answering along the way. It's spread to schools largely through word of mouth, and as it is free, teachers do not need to make a budget request to get their classes started on the game. As well as New Zealand schools, Polymath is being picked up by schools as far as the US, UK and Canada. Sophie and Christian Silver speak to Kathryn about the inspiration behind the game and where they want to take it. Photo: Supplied by Polymath
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
People clash over the correct answer to simple maths equation - but which result do YOU think is right?
A maths problem has been going viral online, with people arguing over what the correct result should be. The issue has arisen as puzzle fans have been coming up with different answers for the question. It has been shared on a number of social media platforms, most recently X (formerly Twitter), where it was shared alongside a short caption. The caption simply read: 'What answer y'all get?' According to one respondent: 'Any answer other than 17 is wrong and your education system failed you.' However, others found themselves arriving at a different conclusion. Some believe the answer should be 21, with a number of those who responded to the puzzle on Reddit explaining their thinking. The question reads: 2 + 5(8 - 5) There are two main answers people have offered: either 17 or 21. One Reddit user who found the answer to be 21 shared their reasoning. They wrote: 'I just add the 2+5 and subtract the 8-5 in the same equation and that gives me 7*3 which is 21, I also know the other method and that it is the right one, I just wanted to see if anyone else is on the same mindset as I am.' Another added: 'I was always taught do the (8-5) first which is 3 Then 2+5 =7 7*3=21 So I'm sticking with 21.' Some were simply baffled by the equation. One wrote: 'Ok, I'm lost...' The puzzle was shared on Twitter, prompting one maths fan to say that those who came to the wrong answer had been 'failed' by their education system Another added: 'I thought once you solve the parentheses then you solve the equation from left to right. Because I've done it the Pedmas way and actually got it wrong so which is it?' However, others revealed their reasoning for coming to 17 as the answer. It's all to do with using PEDMAS in order to tackle the different components in the right order (some people use the acronym BEDMAS, which uses different words, but represents the same order of operations). As one Reddit user explained: 'Use order of operations, PEMDAS is an acronym for the words parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction.' Some people thought the solution was 21, and they explained how they had arrived at the conclusion Another applied the method to the specific question. They wrote: '2+5(8-5) = 17 because: '1. You do the parentheses first. (8-5) = 3 '2. You follow the order of operations; use BODMAS/BIDMAS. Since multiplying comes before addition, you then multiply the sum of the last answer by the number of which comes before the parentheses which is in this case is 5. 3*5 = 15 '3. Then add the remaining number to the the previous sum. You now have your answer. 15+2 = 17.' Those who solved the problem revealed how they used PEDMAS to come to the answer, which is 17 This is not the only viral puzzle which uses PEDMAS to solve an equation. A simple sixth-grade math equation went viral on X for stumping adults who forgot how to solve a basic problem. 'Can you solve this!?' one X user asked their followers. The problem read: 16 - 4 ÷ 4 - 4. The comment section blew up with some internet users claiming the answer was 11, while others saying that it was -1. A few X users even claimed the answer was 12, some said 0, one answered 13, and another came to the answer of 6. To solve the equation, you have to reach back into the depths of your brain and use PEMDAS, which stands for Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction. The acronym represents the correct order to complete a math problem with multiple functions, starting by solving what's in between parentheses. So, can you solve the sixth-grade math problem? The correct answer to the equation is 11. To get the answer, four is first divided by itself because division comes before subtraction in PEMDAS. Four divided by four is one, which now makes the problem 16 - 1 - 4. Next is just simple subtraction. Moving left to right, 16 - 1 = 15 and 15 - 4 = 11; thus, the answer to the tricky problem is 11. The math problem was posted to X, and internet users were divided on the correct answer Many users who got -1 made the mistake of going in order instead of starting with division. If you started the equation by subtracting four from 16, you would've ended up with 12 ÷ 4 - 4. 12 ÷ 4 = 3 and 3 - 4 = -1. Those who accidentally came up with 12, 0, 13, or 6 may've made an error when subtracting or dividing. 19 - 12 ÷ 3 + 1 or this one: 10 × 2 ÷ 4 − 2.
Times
17-05-2025
- Science
- Times
Teaser 3268
W-hoops! The PE game W-hoops! involves throwing inflexible hoops to hook onto a W-shaped frame. The torus-shaped hoops all have the same cross-section but different diameters and fit snugly, in contact, into a storage box. The illustration (not to scale) shows side- and top-views with three hoops, but the box actually contains the maximum possible number of hoops, allowing for a hole at the centre. The internal width of the box is a multiple of its internal depth. Di preferred maths to PE and after her throws she calculated, using 22/7 for pi, that the total volume of the hoops was over 60 per cent of the internal volume of their box. Knowing this would overstate the value, she then used 3.14 for pi and
