Mathematics teaching materials

Design a Board Game
Numeracy Through Problem Solving

Written by Malcolm Swan, Barbara Binns and John Gillespie with Hugh Burkhardt and the Shell Centre Team. Published by Shell Centre & Longman 1987 - 1989.

The box contains - a Teachers' Guide, 25 Students' Booklets, Photocopying masters, Sample materials.
Price in UK pounds: £25.

Numeracy Through Problem Solving is a sequence of five modules which develop students' ability to use mathematics together with other skills, in tackling problems of concern or situations of interest in everyday life - the original definition of numeracy, which was reinforced by the Cockcroft Report.

In Design a Board Game, groups carefully design and produce their own board games. These games are then played and evaluated by other class members. This involves developing ideas from 2-dimensional shape-and-space, together with basic concepts of probability.

• Students play a number of games which have been devised by someone else, discover faults and shortcomings and suggest improvements.
• Students share their ideas within groups, then decide on a rough plan for their own game.
• Each group of students produces a detailed design, makes it, and checks the finished version.
• The groups exchange games and test them. When they are returned, each group re-assesses its own game in the light of another group's comments.

The five modules have all been designed for pupils of all abilities to complement the GCSE Mathematics curriculum for 16 year olds in England and Wales. Each module is designed to take between 10 and 20 hours to complete. Each provides a theme within which the students take responsibility for planning, organising or designing. They are based around the everyday interests of most students. Students work both individually and in groups and are able to choose which areas of mathematics to deploy. They also implement the results of their own decisions - a vital educational experience!

Students' Booklets (5 copies).
Price in UK pounds: £10.

Here is a sample page.