A deep look into the History of Measurement in Mathematics and its use in Health Care.

  CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION When reflecting upon this assessment task, it has made me aware of the many different ways to view and teach measurement. At first, I simply considered measurement to be a unit of length, mass, or volume. It wasn’t until Dr Cris mentioned Florence Nightingale that it opened up my perspective on measurement which includes statistics, comparisons, and unknown variables. Going through the unit readings and looking at the different ways you can teach mathematics, such as MAST, it also made me realise that mathematics doesn’t have to be repetitive problems on a board that students solve. And as per the interview with Natalie, she is an example that this type of teaching does not work for everyone. Mathematics can be more exciting, and you can use real-life problems that students can relate to. When I am a qualified teacher and preparing my lesson plans, I will definitely be more aware of the culture and background of my students to ensure the lessons are incl...

  PLANNED LESSON ACTIVITIES In this blog I will provide three separate planned activities for students that relate to teaching measurement. For variety, I will provide an activity for Primary, Middle, and Senior Secondary schooling, following the progression of the development of measurement throughout history as discussed in previous blog posts.   Primary / Early learning – Year 3 – Measuring Jumping! – MAST pedagogy Australian Curriculum – Content Descriptor:          Measurement and Geometry - Measure, order and compare objects using familiar metric units of length, mass and capacity  (ACMMG061)         Recognise and explain the connection between addition and subtraction  (ACMNA054) Learning intention: Develop skills in measuring in meters and centimetres. Developing numeracy skills. Summary of lessons: Teacher is to teach Mathematics as Storytelling for these lessons to make them engaging for all studen...

  MATHEMATICS AS STORYTELLING Teaching mathematics effectively can be challenging. When you add in a number of different ethnic cultures into the classroom it can be even more difficult. According to the QLD Curriculum & Assessment Authority, culture affects the ways mathematics is learned (QCAA, 2020). Bishop (1988) states that the school curriculum needs to be adjusted to suit the multi-cultural nature of societies, as there is an alarming number of children from minority groups failing, and the current curriculum is generally suited to the ‘home’ culture. In Australian classrooms, in particular in the Northern Territory, there are a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Within the Northern Territory, approximately 25% of enrolled students are First Nations people (ABS, 2021). Research completed by Jorgensen in 2010 found secondary school attendance by Indigenous students is low. Therefore, it is important to provide curriculum that is able to be picked up ov...

 INTERVIEW WITH A CURRENT NEONATAL NURSE This blog is an email interview I completed with Natalie, who is a 25-year-old Nurse, working at the Royal Darwin Hospital, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The intention of the line of questioning was to highlight the importance of both mathematics and measurement in health care without putting this idea into her mouth (or fingers)… ·          When did you first become a nurse? I graduated at the end of 2014 and started working as a Registered Nurse at the start of 2015. ·          What made you want to be a nurse? I knew I wanted a job where I could help and care for people. I knew I would enjoy it as it comes naturally to me to want to help those who are most vulnerable.  ·          Did you always want to be a nurse? Not initially. I always pictured myself living on the land. I was in my early 20’s when I decided I wan...

  FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE - STATISTICS IN HEALTH CARE Measurement in health can also be the use of statistical data to either highlight a potential health issue, or aim to predict possible outcomes. Florance Nightingale, who was born in May 1820, is credited with revolutionising nursing through her introduction of statistics in health care. Nightingale is greatly known for her distinction as a nurse caring for soldiers throughout the Crimean War, and her education on sanitary reform (Wikipedia, 2020).  However, Nightingale also produced famous diagrams, which showed the high proportion of soldiers that were dying due to diseases rather than battle wounds. Nightingale also designed questionnaires to gather data on the British armies stationed in India, on their sanitary conditions, and predict potential health problems. Nightingale also studied the mortality rates of Australian First Nations people and stated that a health problem can only be addressed once its dimensions were rel...

  THE GODFATHER OF EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE Aristotle is a well-known Greek philosopher and scientist born in 384 BC (Amadio & Kenny, 2019). He is considered one of the greatest intellects in history, and a lot of his philosophical work is still embedded in Western thinking (Amadio & Kenny, 2019). However, many may not realise the impact Aristotle had on our health system, as being the godfather of evidence-based medicine. Aristotle’s logic and philosophy was the main reason medicine transitioned from superstition towards a more scientific method (Sallam, 2010). One of his main contributions was the introduction of the concept of “logic”, where all natural phenomena and laws were to be based on common sense (If A = B, and B = C, then A = C) (Sallam, 2010).   The concept of evidence-based medicine grew over the centuries to expand health care, and a subsection of evidence-based medicine is measurement-based care. Measurement-based care uses methodical and routine a...

MEASUREMENT IN MEDICINE If you were to ask the average person on the street what is measurement, their instant thought would be distance or length – eg, centimetre, metre, kilometre. If you were to ask what profession uses measurement, the first response would be tradespeople such as builders. It may take them a while before they even start to think of Medical Professions. However, whenever you go to the doctor for a check-up they check your blood pressure, take your temperature, and monitor your weight (MOOC Blog, 2021). If necessary, they take bloods and complete further analysis to ensure you have the right balance of blood cells, cholesterol, liver function, etc. Medicine and math go hand in hand. The medical profession (and your health) depends on the use and accuracy of mathematical measurements. Lassere (2006) states that measurement is fundamental to science and medicine measurement underpins most clinical decisions. Without the ability to measure, you are unable to diagnose co...