The QIA has announced that "Learning Mathematics in Context" is one of the subjects in the 2007/08 round of the Teaching and Learning Programme [formerly the National Teaching and Learning Change Programme].
The QIA has announced that "Learning Mathematics in Context" is one of the subjects in the 2007/08 round of the TLP.
A good deal of work has been done in the area of contextualised Mathematics, or "Realistic Mathematics", as it is better known, most notably by the Freudenthal Institute in the Netherlands. Building on the Freudenthal Institute's work, Manchester Metropolitan University's Centre for Mathematics Education were given a three-year grant by the Gatsby Foundation to expand their "Developing Mathematics through Contexts" programme. This is beginning to generate some interesting outcomes.
Considerable research is being done in this area because it is not at all clear how to teach Mathematics in context most effectively. There are some excellent examples of how it can work well, such as with simultaneous equations (see, for example, Susan Darby's student article). There are also plenty of examples of how it can go badly wrong. The TLP will bring together the best examples of good practice and make them available in a similar way to "Improving Learning in Mathematics".