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Mathematics

Junior Cycle Mathematics focuses on improving students' mathematical experience in the classroom and on developing skills for life, work and further study through the five inter-connected strands: Statistics and probability, Geometry and trigonometry, Number, Algebra and Functions.

The objective of Junior Cycle mathematics is that all students develop mathematical proficiency. Mathematical proficiency is more than just procedural fluency and is explicitly characterised in the syllabus as

  • conceptual understanding—comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations, and relations
  • procedural fluency—skill in carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately
  • strategic competence—ability to formulate, represent, and solve mathematical problems in bothfamiliar and unfamiliar contexts
  • adaptive reasoning—capacity for logical thought, reflection, explanation, justification and communication
  • productive disposition—habitual inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in diligence, perseverance and one’s own efficacy.

 

 

Review of Junior Cycle Mathematics

Mathematics is one of the subjects included in phase 4 of the schedule for implementation of junior cycle subjects. To inform this review, the NCCA commissioned the Educational Research Centre (ERC) to conduct an evaluation of the impact of Project Maths on the performance of students in junior cycle mathematics. The evaluation drew on existing sources, including data based on national examinations and international assessments of mathematics. It also included Focus Group interviews with teachers of junior cycle mathematics. The evaluation provided an evidence-based foundation for the development of the subject specification.

The Mathematics Development Group consists of the nominees from a range of education stakeholders including teacher and management bodies, Department of Education and Skills, and the State Examinations Commission.