The ALM Virtual Seminar Series in for 2024/25 has now been completed. You can view recordings of the November and December seminars on our YouTube channel (see links below). Recordings of the April seminars will be available soon.
Numeracy in the OECD’s 2023 Survey of Adults Skills (PIAAC Cycle 2)
Speakers: Dave Tout, Javier Díez-Palomar and Kees Hoogland
Date: April 23rd 2025
Biography: The virtual seminar will be presented by Dave Tout (ACER and University of Melbourne, Australia), Javier Díez-Palomar (University of Barcelona, Spain), and Kees Hoogland (HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands). The speakers are all members of the OECD’s PIAAC Numeracy Expert Group which was responsible for the assessment framework and the test development in the second cycle of PIAAC.
Abstract: PIAAC provides the most comprehensive data on the literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving proficiency skills of adults. The first cycle of the Survey of Adult Skills was conducted between 2011 and 2018 across 39 countries. The second cycle of this survey was conducted during 2022–2023 and involved 31 countries. The skills of about 160,000 adults aged 16–65 were assessed in this cycle, representing 673 million people. In this virtual seminar, we will present the enhancements to the underlying definitions and elaborations of numeracy for Cycle 2 which led to the design of the set of numeracy items used, and also describe and share the revised and expanded proficiency descriptions of numeracy resulting from the data of the cognitive assessment. We will also dig deeper into the outcomes within some countries and between countries, and discuss some initial trends, and allow time for discussion and questions.
Out of the mathematics classroom – towards a better understanding of adults’ informal and implicit learning of mathematics in everyday and workplace situations
Speaker: Pauline Vos
Date: April 3rd 2025
Biography: Pauline Vos is a Professor of Mathematics Education at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She leads theoretical research into the why, when and how of using/learning what type of mathematics by which students/users. Her practical research embraces the use of mathematics in daily life and workplaces and the design of learning arrangements combining authentic situations, collaborative inquiry and socio-numeric competencies.
Abstract: Mathematics is not always learnt through the help of teachers. Without any teachers or textbooks, Newton and Leibnitz developed the concept of ‘the derivative’. More than 40 000 years ago, the person who carved 29 notches on a bone, likely, had no mathematics teacher either. In this presentation, I will present examples from history, from workplaces, and from daily life, which yield characteristics of informal and implicit mathematics, and of informal and implicit learning of mathematics. These characteristics are related to needs, tools, norms and culture that offer people space for collaboration, agency, creativity, curiosity, and persistence. As a foretaste to the presentation, participants may already ponder on the question: do climate barcodes (a.k.a. warming stripes) or diagrams of election results contribute to out-of-school mathematical learning?
The History of Mathematics Part 1: Numerals and Arithmetic
The History of Mathematics Part 2: Mathematical Developments and Teaching Approaches
Speaker: David Kaye
Date: 18th November 2024 (Part 1). Watch the webinar on our YouTube channel here.
Date: 18th December 2024 (Part 2). Watch the webinar on our YouTube channel here (part 2:1) and here (part 2:2).
Accompanying documents: 4 numerals activity and Number systems handout revised
You can watch ALM webinars from our previous series on our YouTube channel
ALM Virtual Seminar Organising Committee
- Masha Apostolidu (UK)
- Charlotte Arkenback (Sweden)
- Catherine Byrne (Ireland)
- Diane Dalby (UK)
- Linda Jarlskog (Sweden)
- Beth Kelly (UK)
- Judy Larsen (Canada)