Teaching mathematics and technology through design practice.

In many schools throughout the Western world teachers are observing increasing student disengagement with the study of mathematics and technology (M and T). The Queensland Education Department implemented a curriculum project designed to trial the use of design practice as a tool for integrating the teaching of mathematics and technology in a rural Queensland state school. This paper reports on the outcomes of the trial, including teaching methods from three comparison schools. All the teachers reported that the students in each respective trial were highly engaged and on task throughout the project, and the integration of M and T worked to harness students' enthusiasm to be creative and constructive for the purposes of learning mathematics. The paper argues that differences in regulatory and instructional discourse adopted by the teachers resulted in different and pedagogically important outcomes.