Leicha Bragg | Victoria University (original) (raw)

Papers by Leicha Bragg

Mathematical games are widely used in the primary classroom; however, not all games are equally v... more Mathematical games are widely used in the primary classroom; however, not all games are equally valuable. How might teachers decide which specific games to introduce? The authors present five principles of educationally-rich games to support teachers to address this issue.

Mathematical reasoning is now featured in the mathematics curriculum documents of many nations, b... more Mathematical reasoning is now featured in the mathematics curriculum documents of many nations, but this necessitates changes to teaching practice and hence a need for professional learning. The development of children's mathematical reasoning requires appropriate encouragement and feedback from their teacher who can only do this if they recognise mathematical reasoning in children's actions and words. As part of a larger study, we explored whether observation of educators conducting mathematics lessons can develop teachers' sensitivity in noticing children's reasoning and consideration of how to support reasoning. In the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Research Program, demonstration lessons were conducted in Australian and Canadian primary classrooms. Data sources included post-lesson group discussions. Observation of demonstration lessons and engagement in post-lesson discussions proved to be effective vehicles for developing a professional eye for noticing children's individual and whole-class reasoning. In particular, the teachers noticed that children struggled to employ mathematical language to communicate their reasoning and viewed limitations in language as a major barrier to increasing the use of mathematical reasoning in their classrooms. Given the focus of teachers' noticing of the limitations in some types of mathematical language, it seems that targeted support is required for teachers to facilitate classroom discourse for reasoning.

Mathematical reasoning has been emphasised as one of the key proficiencies for mathematics in the... more Mathematical reasoning has been emphasised as one of the key proficiencies for mathematics in the Australian curriculum since 2011 and in the Canadian curriculum since 2007. This study explores primary teachers’ perceptions of mathematical reasoning at a time of further curriculum change.Twenty-four primary teachers from Canada and
Australia were interviewed after engagement in the first stage of the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Program incorporating demonstration lessons focused on reasoning conducted in their schools. Phenomenographic analysis of interview transcripts
exploring variation in the perceptions of mathematical reasoning held by these teachers revealed seven categories of description based on four dimensions of variation.The categories delineate the different perceptions of mathematical reasoning expressed by the participants of this study. The resulting outcome space establishes a framework that
facilitates tracking of growth in primary teachers’ awareness of aspects of mathematical reasoning

Studying Teacher Education, 2015

Mathematics Education Research Journal, 2016

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Oct 1, 2006

Educational Innovations For Development in Asia and the Pacific, 2003

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Aug 1, 2002


Proceedings of the 30th Conference of the International Group For the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2006

The use of mathematical games in primary classrooms is commonplace in Australia. This paper repor... more The use of mathematical games in primary classrooms is commonplace in Australia. This paper reports on key findings from a larger investigation exploring the impact of games on mathematical learning, student attitudes, and behaviours. 222 Grade 5 and 6 children were taught multiplication and division of decimal numbers using calculator games. This paper raises questions about the students' attitudes towards games as a vehicle for learning mathematics. One aspect reported in this paper is an apparent difference between students' attitudes to games usage when data were collected quantitatively compared with qualitatively.

Australian Mathematics Teacher, 2011

Pme 37 Mathematics Learning Across the Life Span Proceedings of the International Group For the Psychology of Mathematics Education 2013 Conference, 2013

Mav 2011 Maths Is Multi Dimensional Proceedings of the 48th Annual Conference of the Mathematical Association of Victoria, 2011

Mav 2013 Mathematics of the Planet Earth Proceedings of the Mav 50th Annual Conference 2013, 2013

Mathematics Education Research Innovation Networking Opportunity Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Held at Deakin University, 2003

This paper reports on data collected from a larger study investigating the effect of game playing... more This paper reports on data collected from a larger study investigating the effect of game playing on students' mathematical learning and motivation. The study was conducted in three schools with 240 students participating in four different treatment groups. This paper reports some of the results of interviews with students to gather data on their attitudes towards mathematics and game playing. The interview data collected from a sample of students in the three game playing groups pertaining to attitudes are presented and discussed below.

Mav 2002 Valuing Mathematics in Society, 2002

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Dec 1, 2013

Mathematical games are widely used in the primary classroom; however, not all games are equally v... more Mathematical games are widely used in the primary classroom; however, not all games are equally valuable. How might teachers decide which specific games to introduce? The authors present five principles of educationally-rich games to support teachers to address this issue.

Mathematical reasoning is now featured in the mathematics curriculum documents of many nations, b... more Mathematical reasoning is now featured in the mathematics curriculum documents of many nations, but this necessitates changes to teaching practice and hence a need for professional learning. The development of children's mathematical reasoning requires appropriate encouragement and feedback from their teacher who can only do this if they recognise mathematical reasoning in children's actions and words. As part of a larger study, we explored whether observation of educators conducting mathematics lessons can develop teachers' sensitivity in noticing children's reasoning and consideration of how to support reasoning. In the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Research Program, demonstration lessons were conducted in Australian and Canadian primary classrooms. Data sources included post-lesson group discussions. Observation of demonstration lessons and engagement in post-lesson discussions proved to be effective vehicles for developing a professional eye for noticing children's individual and whole-class reasoning. In particular, the teachers noticed that children struggled to employ mathematical language to communicate their reasoning and viewed limitations in language as a major barrier to increasing the use of mathematical reasoning in their classrooms. Given the focus of teachers' noticing of the limitations in some types of mathematical language, it seems that targeted support is required for teachers to facilitate classroom discourse for reasoning.

Mathematical reasoning has been emphasised as one of the key proficiencies for mathematics in the... more Mathematical reasoning has been emphasised as one of the key proficiencies for mathematics in the Australian curriculum since 2011 and in the Canadian curriculum since 2007. This study explores primary teachers’ perceptions of mathematical reasoning at a time of further curriculum change.Twenty-four primary teachers from Canada and
Australia were interviewed after engagement in the first stage of the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Program incorporating demonstration lessons focused on reasoning conducted in their schools. Phenomenographic analysis of interview transcripts
exploring variation in the perceptions of mathematical reasoning held by these teachers revealed seven categories of description based on four dimensions of variation.The categories delineate the different perceptions of mathematical reasoning expressed by the participants of this study. The resulting outcome space establishes a framework that
facilitates tracking of growth in primary teachers’ awareness of aspects of mathematical reasoning

Studying Teacher Education, 2015

Mathematics Education Research Journal, 2016

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Oct 1, 2006

Educational Innovations For Development in Asia and the Pacific, 2003

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Aug 1, 2002


Proceedings of the 30th Conference of the International Group For the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2006

The use of mathematical games in primary classrooms is commonplace in Australia. This paper repor... more The use of mathematical games in primary classrooms is commonplace in Australia. This paper reports on key findings from a larger investigation exploring the impact of games on mathematical learning, student attitudes, and behaviours. 222 Grade 5 and 6 children were taught multiplication and division of decimal numbers using calculator games. This paper raises questions about the students' attitudes towards games as a vehicle for learning mathematics. One aspect reported in this paper is an apparent difference between students' attitudes to games usage when data were collected quantitatively compared with qualitatively.

Australian Mathematics Teacher, 2011

Pme 37 Mathematics Learning Across the Life Span Proceedings of the International Group For the Psychology of Mathematics Education 2013 Conference, 2013

Mav 2011 Maths Is Multi Dimensional Proceedings of the 48th Annual Conference of the Mathematical Association of Victoria, 2011

Mav 2013 Mathematics of the Planet Earth Proceedings of the Mav 50th Annual Conference 2013, 2013

Mathematics Education Research Innovation Networking Opportunity Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Held at Deakin University, 2003

This paper reports on data collected from a larger study investigating the effect of game playing... more This paper reports on data collected from a larger study investigating the effect of game playing on students' mathematical learning and motivation. The study was conducted in three schools with 240 students participating in four different treatment groups. This paper reports some of the results of interviews with students to gather data on their attitudes towards mathematics and game playing. The interview data collected from a sample of students in the three game playing groups pertaining to attitudes are presented and discussed below.

Mav 2002 Valuing Mathematics in Society, 2002

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Dec 1, 2013