Functional Maths: Focusing on the problem Linda Randall, Worcester College Steve Pardoe, University of Warwick

Objectives To explore activities which support learners to: understand the structure of functional skills questions Transfer skills from one context to another Recognise common mistakes in answering functional skills questions

Personalisation & Progression factors Familiarity of the context Autonomy of the learner Complexity of the problem Technical demand of the skills

Activity 1 Take a set of question cards (either level 1 or level 2) Discuss how the questions could be grouped by question type Consider what the groups have in common Label each of your groups

Same question – different context

Activity 2 Think of a learner or group of learners Choose one of the questions from activity 1 Write a similar question in a context that would be: (a) Familiar (b) Less familiar to them How might you scaffold the task for learners who found this difficult? How might you stretch and challenge learners who found this easy?

Using a writing frame Mr Roberts runs a …………………... He knows He uses an average of ………..… of …………….……. per ………………..….. …………………….. is sold in ……..…… containers. Mr Roberts wants to have enough……..……….….. to last until the end of ……………………... Does Mr Roberts have enough to last from the beginning of ………………….. until the end of …………………………? At the beginning of ………………… he buys …………..…….. containers.

What’s gone wrong? They have 10 x 25 kg bags = 250 kg They need 2 kg each day, which is 7 x 2kg per week = 14 kg For 3 months they need 14 kg x 30 days x 3 months = 1260 kg So they don’t have enough.

Activity 3 Look at the answers given by a learner to the Functional maths questions Go through and correct all the errors made Write comments against each error that would help the learner to understand the mistakes they have made

Plenary How useful are these activities in supporting learners’ problem solving? How well do they differentiate to meet the needs of all learners? Could you use the activities with your learners? What other activities have you used to help learners interpret functional skills questions?