Learning about numeracy: The impact of a compulsory unit on pre- service teachers' understandings and beliefs

In 2015, a new Master of Teaching coursework unit, Numeracy for Learners and Teachers, was introduced at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The drivers for the establishment of the unit were the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership numeracy standards for graduate teachers and the inclusion of numeracy as a general capability in the Australian Curriculum. In this article, we describe the content and organisation of the unit. An evaluation was conducted with students in each of the years 2015-2017. Data included pre- and post-unit surveys and interviews. Findings indicated that students had fairly good numeracy skills on entry to the unit, and that as a consequence of studying the unit, their understanding of the relationship between numeracy and mathematics improved, as did their confidence to incorporate numeracy into their teaching across the curriculum.