Friday 6 April 2018

Prior knowledge


Our maths programme this term has included 2 standards
(Bivariate Statistics and Linear Algebra); both standards were introduced
in term 4, during “Jumpstart”, the previous year when learners were in year 10.


We have been switching between the 2 standards all term as learners
were becoming too complacent focusing on one standard at a time. What I noticed
each time we switched standards, was that learners were able to easily pick
up where they had left off as they were drawing on “prior knowledge” which
had been fairly recent. This switching between standards seemed to reignite
their desire to complete set tasks and set mini deadlines for themselves


By week 7 of an 11 week term, a few learners had successfully gained credits
in both standards. This is the only year 11 maths class at the college where this
has happened as all other year 11’s were either still on 0 credits or 3.
My hypothesis was correct….drawing on prior knowledge boosts learner
confidence and having prior knowledge as recent as a few weeks old seems
to have paid off. A total of 9 learners now have 6 credits with a few more
hoping to sit assessments in the final week of term.

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