0580 Teacher Guide (For Examination From 2020)
0580 Teacher Guide (For Examination From 2020)
0580 Teacher Guide (For Examination From 2020)
Version 1.0
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Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
Getting started ................................................................................................................................................... 5
1 Planning the course ........................................................................................................................................ 6
2 Planning lessons ............................................................................................................................................. 9
3 Classroom practice ....................................................................................................................................... 14
4 Preparing learners for final assessment ....................................................................................................... 25
5 Resources and support................................................................................................................................. 32
Appendix: Sample lesson plan template ......................................................................................................... 34
Teacher Guide
Introduction
As an international awarding body, many of our candidates are either multi-lingual or possess English as a
second language, which presents them with great opportunities but also with potential barriers. Learners
cannot develop academic knowledge and skills without access to the language in which they are discussed,
constructed and evaluated. Therefore in this guide, we have included some prompts and tips on how to
incorporate the development of language skills within the general teaching of this subject.
The information relating to language support is indicated using the icon shown here.
Where language levels are already highly developed amongst learners, this advice will not be applicable.
However, it is often the case that those learners with lower ability skills in general and those with lower ability
language skills tend to share similar misunderstandings.
Getting started
The school support hub provides a wide range of resources to help you, including:
• syllabuses
• past examination papers and specimen papers
• mark schemes
• Principal Examiner Reports for Teachers (after the first sitting in 2020)
• example candidate response booklets (after the first sitting in 2020)
• schemes of work
• specimen paper answers
• frequently asked questions
• interactive learner guide
• community resources and discussion forum.
All of these forms of teacher support are invaluable in helping you and your learners understand exactly what
Cambridge expects of candidates in examinations, and will help you to prepare your learners appropriately.
Syllabus
When planning your course, your starting point should be the syllabus. This contains information not only on
the curriculum content but also the overall aims and assessment objectives. It gives details of the
examination papers, the required equipment and additional information. It is important that you become
thoroughly familiar with all parts of the syllabus document.
Scheme of work
You will then need to devise a scheme of work. You need to think about how you will organise the time that
you have available to help learners to understand and learn all of the facts and concepts required by the
syllabus, and to develop the necessary skills. Cambridge provides a scheme of work that you could use as a
starting point but you will undoubtedly want to produce your own eventually. Your scheme of work will help
you to determine what resources you will require to deliver the course and this will help you to build up
teaching, learning and reference resources such as text books and worksheets.
Language is an important part of communication and you should make sure that your learners complete
given tasks in English. The language focus is not an additional element; it should be seen as the medium
through which the topic content is taught. The promotion of critical thinking skills and collaborative work is
considered to be very important in acquiring language and improving fluency. Personalisation of the topic is
also known to increase motivation and self-confidence as well as interest in the topic. Section 3 provides
some ideas and activities for incorporating language into the lesson without increasing your work load.
Topics should also, ideally, be arranged so that they fit into the school’s sessions, so that a topic is not split
because of a school holiday or an examination session. In a two-year course, the second year will probably
have fewer weeks because of the timing of the Cambridge examinations.
It is important to note that you do not need to teach the syllabus content in the order in which it is printed in
the syllabus. It is likely that you will want to order your teaching to suit your learners’ particular needs and
preferences. This may be done in a number of ways, including:
• Start with a topic that learners will not have seen in the lower secondary course to generate interest
and enthusiasm.
• Start with topics which are conceptually easier, saving the more difficult topics for the second year of
the course.
• Use the suggested teaching order in the ‘Scheme of Work’ provided on the School Support Hub.
• Use prior assessment data from lower secondary to address any of your learners’ weaker areas
before you develop the new work.
• Use a structure that allows for short bite-size revisits to key prior learning as part of every lesson,
e.g. in the lesson starter.
Long-term planning will also consider what you would like the learners to able to communicate either in
spoken or written form at the end of the course. This will help with identifying what language could be
included in medium- and short-term plans.
A long-term plan should consider the order and grouping of topics, the timing of assessment points and
revision opportunities and also consider a balanced approach for different areas of the mathematics
curriculum. There are certain topics that will have to be taught first to allow the development of knowledge
and skills to access other topic areas on the course. Some of the topics on the syllabus will also have
already been visited before as part of the lower secondary programme and might only need a short recap
before linking to the next steps.
A long-term plan is not fixed; it is a working document. As the course progresses, you can adapt it as
required. When you have worked through it once or twice you will have a much better idea of the best way
for you to work through the syllabus.
Cambridge has produced one example of a scheme of work for this course, which is available from the
School Support Hub (www.cambridgeinternational.org/support).
Generally, we recommend that you only use this as a reference to help you create your own scheme of work
because, the Cambridge Scheme of Work:
• represents only one possible approach and so isn’t necessarily the best for your learners
• doesn’t take into account the ethos, approach and/or facilities of your centre
• is arranged in a way that might not fit in with your long-term plan
• has no statement of the amount of time required for each element.
A medium-term plan is best developed with contributions from all of the teachers who will be using it. If they
have had an input they will feel an ‘ownership’ of the plan and will be more likely to adhere to it.
A medium-term plan should not be fixed. It should be amended if it is found not to be working as planned
and as new ideas and resources are developed. It should be reviewed at the end of each school year to
assess how well it has worked and to decide if any improvements need be incorporated.
Short-term planning is something that is done by an individual teacher, taking into account their own
strengths and the needs of the learners they will be teaching. Teachers new to the subject might need
guidance but the plan should still be their own.
This process is covered in more detail in the next section, 2 Planning lessons.
2 Planning lessons
It should detail the learning activities that will take place and have approximate timings showing how long
each part of the lesson will last. It should also briefly note the language focus for the lesson.
beginning this should be an activity/activities that engages and motivates the learners, as well as
stimulating the background knowledge that the learners can bring to the topic
middle this should include the main learning and language activities of the lesson
end this should be an activity/activities in which learners can assess their understanding of
what has gone before and feedback on it.
A blank template of the example used here is available in the Appendix for you to copy.
Lesson: School:
Previous learning
Plan
Planned
Planned activities Resources
timings
Beginning A starter activity should be a short introduction to the skills Your plan should also
needed for the lesson. It should engage learners with include a list of the
mathematics. It can be a short question and answer resources that will be
session, a simple quiz to review prior learning, or a look at needed in each
the common errors made in a topic. It could even be a rapid lesson. Examples
practical demonstration to introduce them to the topic to be include, course books,
covered in the lesson. internet access,
laptops, calculators,
A starter should also stimulate the interest of the learner by and graphing
providing materials such as visuals for the particular software.
vocabulary needed; or some activity that is personalised to
encourage the learners to bring their own background
knowledge and interest to the topic. It is vital that starter
activities are not laborious; many good ideas and examples
are available online. This should be learner focused with as
little teacher talk time as possible.
Continues overleaf …
Plan
Planned
Planned activities Resources
timings
Middle This is the main part of the lesson. This can build on and
extend previous understanding, explore and solve practical
problems, develop knowledge and skills, practise previously
learned techniques or any of many other alternatives.
Additional information
Differentiation: How do you Assessment: How do you Health and safety check: ICT
plan to give more support? plan to check learning? links
How do you plan to
challenge all learners
including the more able
learners?
Outline here, how will you try Assessment for learning can If your lesson includes any
to ensure that the lesson is take place all through the practical activity, whether a
accessible to all of the lesson. For example, by demonstration or a class
learners so that all will benefit observation, short Q & A practical, an assessment of the
from the experience and be sessions, listening and asking risks involved should be
appropriately challenged. This directed or open questions, included with the lesson plan.
is especially important with quizzes, homework, learners For example, if your lesson
mixed ability groups. There is presenting the results of an includes the use of technology
more on differentiation in investigation to the class, or by such as laptops, or the use of
section 3. teacher-marking of classwork external websites, the
or homework. Do this to equipment should be safe and
discover what your learners the external websites should
knew/understood before the be checked to make sure they
lesson and how this has are also safe.
changed after the lesson.
Reflection Use the space below to reflect on your lesson. Answer the
Were the lesson objectives most relevant questions from the column on the left about
realistic? What did the your lesson.
learners learn today? Were
As soon as possible after the lesson you need to think about how
they any common
well it went. This reflection will be helpful next time you teach the
misconceptions? What do I
same topic. If the timing was wrong or the activities did not fully
need to address next lesson?
occupy the learners this time, you might want to change some
What was the learning
parts of the lesson next time.
atmosphere like? Did my
planned differentiation work It is a good idea to discuss with colleagues how your lesson
well? Did I stick to timings? went, good or bad. They might have valuable advice to offer you
What changes did I make and such collaboration can help you to develop your own
from my plan and why? teaching skills. Sharing your lesson plan with other teachers in
your centre will also enable them to learn from your experiences.
Summary evaluation
What two things went really well? (Consider both teaching and learning.)
1.
2.
What two things would have improved the lesson? (Consider both teaching and learning.)
1.
2.
What have I learned from this lesson about the class or individuals that will inform my next
lesson?
3 Classroom practice
The aim of any teacher is to get their learners to gain knowledge and understanding, to develop the skills to
be able to apply this knowledge, and to learn to communicate what they know as effectively and accurately
as possible in the time available to them on the course.
The teaching should take account of the different needs and abilities across the full range of learners
represented in the group. Lessons should be interesting and involve the learners as much as possible.
Research has shown that the more a learner is involved in the process of learning, the more they retain. This
is also true of language acquisition.
The learning pyramid below shows the percentage of information retained as a result of different forms of
delivery, stimulating different learning processes.
From this it can be seen that although audio-visual (videos and computer animations) may be better than a
lecture (being told by a teacher) there are methods which are better still. Clearly not everything can be
absorbed by discussion and practice, but activities where the learners actually participate work better.
At least some such activities (active learning) should be used alongside demonstration, modelling and
problem solving/investigative work in order to maximise learning. There will not be time for everything to be
covered in this way but some topics certainly should be. If you give learners guiding questions to answer
while listening this will activate knowledge and language and will allow the learners to feedback the answers
or contribute to the group discussion more effectively. This is an example of what is called ‘scaffolding’.
There are, of course, many other methods of getting learners involved and plenty of ideas in books and on
the internet.
3.2 Differentiation
Differentiation is a way of trying to ensure that members of your group with differing abilities can all access
the material you are delivering. There are a number of ways of approaching this problem and, again, they
can be found in books and on the internet. They fall into three main categories.
• Differentiation by outcome – In this method, an open-ended task is set that can be accessed by
all, e.g. ‘An investigation into sequences produced by patterns of tiles on a floor’.
Learners will produce different results according to their ability, but all of their ‘outputs’ will be valid.
• Differentiation by task – Learners are set slightly different tasks based on the same objective. This
could involve, for example, tasks that pose questions on the same topic but which require different
amounts of understanding based of the difficulty and style of the questions being asked. An
example of this might be a system of bronze, silver and gold activities and teachers then direct
learners to the most appropriate starting point for them.
• Differentiation by support – All learners undertake the same task but less able learners are given
additional support. Writing frames, where a template is provided for them to record their work, are
one way of doing this. More able learners also have the role of ‘teaching’ other learners as part of
their task.
Subject teachers are not expected to teach English, however, mathematical language and terminology
should be learned at the same time as the subject content, as a fluent part of the content, so that it has
greater meaning and offers contextual understanding; mathematical language should not be left to a
specified language lesson. The confidence to communicate in accurate and precise language will also be of
benefit to learners taking an external examination in English at the end of the course. A number of
examination questions require explanations and reasoning and learners can gain marks for use of the
correct mathematical language. For example, comments by some examiners on previous papers have noted
the incorrect use of mathematical terminology, the lack of structure in writing a logical methodology and a
lack of precision in answers. It will also benefit learners in the long term, should they continue their studies in
the subject at a higher level with a view to their careers.
The teacher’s role should therefore also be to support the language element of the lesson that underpins the
mathematical content. This element should enhance learners’ communicative skills and their accurate use of
the correct terminology. A key part of this should be for teachers and learners to notice the language used in
different stages of the lesson.
Here are some strategies that you can try in your next lesson:
• record language prompts on the whiteboard
• encourage learners to underline key terms
• use images
• provide writing frames
• enable learners to work collaboratively
• introduce learners to new language before setting a task
• model language in explanations and in interaction with learners
• activate prior knowledge of the subject
• create a bank of useful expressions
To help learners with their use of language it may also be helpful to consider the following questions when
writing a lesson plan for a subject area:
• What is the topic and what does it cover? (content)
• Is there something in the topic you can make personal to the learners? For example, is there
something you can relate to their particular culture to stimulate interest and prior knowledge?
(context, personalisation)
• What language will your learners need to produce during the lesson and later in the exam? (English)
• What is the language focused on? For example, it may be to use the correct terminology when giving
reasons for angle calculations or for describing transformations, to explain a result, justify a decision,
describe a result, or interpret given information. You can also think about the relevant vocabulary
and terms they could practise to help with precision.
(6) To help with developing thinking skills and using the language, start by asking simple questions
using what, when, where and which followed by more challenging ones using how and why. This
works well in group and pair work.
(7) Have a glossary and word bank available. Give the learners specific words and phrases to build the
precise and more complex sentences they will need to be familiar with.
(8) Provide scaffolding – i.e. using activities where learners need to add correct answers from a choice
to make the sentences correct. Follow this with practice of the same language used in sentences
that have less scaffolding or have no scaffolding.
(9) Try and ensure pronunciation and word stress is correct. You can use delayed feedback. This
means making notes during a group discussion time when the language may be difficult, and feeding
this back to the whole group later in the lesson, just before the lesson review.
Command words provide the root of almost all questions in maths. It is learners’ lack of
understanding of the command words that often prevent them from accessing the question. The
2020 syllabus now includes a list of command words that learners should expect to see in the
their examination questions. Some examples of how you could enhance leaners’ understanding
of command words, include:
• Always include ‘understanding command words’ in each lesson plan. Use the command
words consistencly in oral and written questions to encourage familiarity and understanding.
• A matching card activity to match command words with their meaning. You can do
something similar with other key words / terminology for a given topic. (See Example 1 for an
example of how this might look – note that not all command words have been included. See
the syllabus for the full list of command words).
• A definitions list to refer to in learners’ books and as a classroom display (see Example 2).
This could be added to as the course develops. Make sure you use ‘learner friendly’ language
and include examples.
Example 1
Draw a line from each command word to its definition. There will be some definitions that are not used.
Draw a line from each key term to its meaning. There will be some meanings that are not used.
Put in order
Factorise
Work out from given facts, figures or
information, generally using a calculator
Express (in terms of)
Work out approximately
Estimate
Write in a given form
Arrange
Example 2
Command Example
What it means
word
The speed of a car is x km/h.
You need to provide structured Show that the number of metres, a, travelled
evidence that leads to a given result. in 1 second is approximately 0.278x.
Show (that) You must show how to obtain the given Distance in 1 hour = x km
= 1000x metres
answer by providing as many
1000x metres
intermediate steps in your working as Distance in 1 second (a ) =
60 × 60s
possible.
= 0.2777...x
The following are some examples of activities that could be used to develop understanding and
meaning of key mathematical terms.
This shape has 2 pairs of parallel sides and 2 pairs of equal sides.
This shape can be formed by reflecting an equilateral triangle along one of its edges.
True or false?
Prime numbers can only be divided by one and themselves True False
Taboo
This game helps learners to explore language by encouragning them to use a wide range of
vocabulary.
Method:
• Divide learners into pairs.
• Give each pair a pile of taboo cards (see below), face down so that contents cannot be seen.
• One learner picks up a taboo card that they can look at but must not reveal to their partner.
• They must give clues so that their partner guesses the word at the top of the card.
• They must not use any of the taboo words, or parts of the words listed on the card.
Once a word is successfully guessed, the learners swap roles so that they each get a turn at giving the
clues and guessing the word. The pair continues to take turns in this way until all the cards are used.
You can adjust the level by changing what the learners are not allowed to say. For example,
you could also include in ‘prime number’ that they’re not allowed to list example numbers. You
can make your own or find ones made by other people online (be sure to check they’re
appropriate).
Exercise 3: Matching
In this example, using a diagram to match labels with visuals can help contextualise a word and
help define it against associated terms.
Match the letters from the diagram to the correct key term below. Write each letter in the correct box.
Which letters have not been matched with a key term? Write down the key term for each letter.
………………………………… …………………………………
Here’s an example where learners have to think about the correct terms, the position they
occupy in a process and the function they serve in that position all at the same time. The writing
frame allows them to focus on the mathematics whilst also being familiar with how statements
about transformation are usually structured.
......
1. Triangle A is mapped onto triangle E by ..…………………….by ……………………. .
......
2. Triangle A is mapped onto triangle B by ……………………, with …………………….. 2, and
Below are a series of activities that can be used to encourage mathematical reasoning, problem
solving and language interpretation.
Provide some questions with solutions that contain an error. Learners have to identify the error and then
correct the error.
This type of activity is best done in pairs. It reinforces and extends learners’ reasoning skills.
A good example of this is the ‘Lots of lines!’ matching activity available at:
https://undergroundmathematics.org/geometry-of-equations/lots-of-lines
• Group challenges
Setting activities where learners work in larger group sizes creates a competitive element. Use activities
that draw on skills from across the syllabus, whilst also involve language interpretation. A good example
of this is the ‘Wills Tower task’: http://furthermaths.org.uk/docs/GCSE-Willis-Tower-Trig-Instructions.pdf ;
http://furthermaths.org.uk/docs/GCSE-Willis-Tower-trig.pdf; http://furthermaths.org.uk/docs/GCSE-Willis-
Tower-trig-Answer.pdf
• Extended tasks/investigations
These allow some exploration and let learners use and apply their mathematical skills in various
contexts. Lots of examples like ‘The pained cube’ given below, can be found at
https://nrich.maths.org/secondary.
Some white boxes are stacked to form a 4 × 4 × 4 cube. After stacking, each side of the 4
× 4 × 4 cube is dipped into coloured paint – you can see three sides of the cube in the
diagram.
When the stack is taken apart, how many of the individual boxes will have:
• 1 painted face?
• 2 painted faces?
• 3 painted faces?
• no painted faces?
You will find past papers and marks schemes on the School Support Hub
(www.cambridgeinternational.org/support). These can be used by learners for exam practise. You will also
find Principal Examiner Reports for Teachers (PERTs), which are produced after each examination series.
These reports indicate the strengths and weaknesses of candidate performance across the whole cohort and
can be used to help you identify common areas of misconception, misunderstanding and weakness in order
to improve your teaching.
Much research has been published on this subject, suggesting that some of the following methods are not
effective (though of course it depends on the individual):
• generous use of highlighters
• reading and re-reading notes
• working exhaustively and alone
• re-writing existing notes to create a more attractive set of notes.
Dedicated learners will often revise intensely for long periods and convince themselves that they have
prepared thoroughly. Sadly, they may well have been largely wasting their time, especially if they are aiming
to develop a deep and lasting understanding of the topic, in addition to just passing the examination.
Here are some methods that are proven to work for most learners:
• Distributive practice: that is, spreading out study over time. This method is believed to aid true
understanding of the topics.
• Studying in short bursts, followed by testing themselves regularly over several weeks.
• At the end of a revision session, writing down what they can remember.
• Creating a revision timetable for the mock and final exams. This will ensure that they study different
subjects in small amounts but often.
• Answering lots of practice questions/past papers.
• Connecting ideas together by the use of concept maps.
• Using revision guides rather than the subject textbook.
Encourage your learners to consider and develop what works best for them. There is a Learner Revision
Guide (www.cambridgeinternational.org/images/351658-learner-revision-guide-.pdf) available on our public
website that provides some general guidance.
Concept maps (see diagram below) can be drawn and connections made between sub-topics in a unit,
between units in a syllabus, and indeed between related subjects.
https://corbettmaths.com
www.mrbartonmaths.com
www.accessmaths.co.uk/revision-resources.html
Suggested websites for Cambridge IGCSE / IGCSE (9–1) Mathematics 0580 / 0980 can be found through
the Resource centre on our public website: www.cambridgeinternational.org/i-want-to/resource-centre
There are many websites rich in resources and ideas to support the teaching of the syllabus (see also
Section 5.1).
‘Socrative’ is an excellent app for formative assessment and learners usually enjoy using it. You can create
online multiple-choice style quizzes that give instant feedback to you, the teacher, so that you can quickly
identify problem areas. Correction and explanation can then be dealt with immediately.
4.3.3 Podcasts
These audio teaching aids are a handy alternative tool and can be especially useful when learners are
travelling to and from school or do not want to disturb others. Listening to the same podcasts over and over
again can be especially useful for the second language learner; www.gcsepod.com has numerous podcasts
for maths and other subjects.
You can create your own podcasts online for free at ‘Podbean’, for example. Creating your own podcasts
allows you to choose the emphasis you want and use the language you have been specifically using with
your learners.
4.3.4 Video
Video is not just something that learners sit down and watch in order to add variation to a lesson. Videos can
be stopped periodically and questions asked in the traditional way, or they can even be edited and you can
inserted/embed questions within the video itself. This makes the process much more active, which increases
learning potential. You could make your own or have a look at the many examples on YouTube and the
Khan Academy, for example. https://corbettmaths.com has many examples of videos that are free to
access.
There are some excellent free to use software for mathematics. Even a simple Excel spreadsheet can be
used to help with algebra, graphing and statistics.
It is necessary to provide meaningful feedback to your learners in order for them to improve the quality of
their written answers and understanding of a subject. The learner may find the subject itself challenging
and/or may not have the skills in English to deal fully with the question. Either way, meaningful feedback and
reflection time are the answer. Providing feedback can be done in several ways, such as:
• Provide feedback orally in class so that learners write down the extra information they would need to
get full marks.
• Allow learners individually to find the other pieces of information to get full marks.
• Provide a situation where the learners are actively engaged in reviewing the questions and in pairs
or groups with teacher guidance. In this way they can collectively understand what solution and
language use would have gained full marks. You can point out command words used in the question
and encourage the learners to develop an understanding of what each word means.
The last suggestion however, takes time and it could be set as a group exercise to be started in learners own
study time.
Technology is available to allow you to easily record units of your own teaching in short, manageable
portions. These can be made available to learners who can watch them as a homework assignment. This
saves time and allows you to concentrate on other aspects of learning and allows more time for formal
assessment. The fact that these videos can be watched again and again is especially useful to the second
language learner.
The mock examination is an important benchmark for teachers and learners, and it serves several purposes:
• It is an opportunity for the learner to be tested on the complete course material* under proper exam
conditions.
• It encourages learners to start revising for the exams earlier (otherwise they might put off revision
until only a month or less before for the real exam).
• It allows learners to become more familiar with the process of being examined, so that on the day of
the actual examination they might feel less stressed and more confident – this is especially important
for learners who are apprehensive or nervous about taking exams.
• It provides an opportunity to spread the revision load of the subject over several months.
* Even if learners have not completed the course by the time of the mock exams, an exam should be created that allows the learner to
get the mock exam experience on the majority of the syllabus content.
After reviewing the results of the mock exam, learners can gain an insight into the following:
• how successful their revision techniques had been
• which topics and sub-topics need more revision and practice
• if they had enough time to complete the exam and check through their answers
• if they were able to perform to their potential under pressure
• whether there are questions in which they would have gained the mark(s) had their English been
clearer
• if they lost marks because of not being clear and/or using the correct terminology.
If learners treat the mock exams as if they were the finals, evidence indicates that they might perform even
better in their real final assessment. Some learners might take considerable persuasion to take the mock
exams seriously enough to revise properly. They need to be encouraged to appreciate that the process is a
positive and supportive one, and one in which very useful feedback will be provided.
Be aware of any data provided in the syllabus and, importantly, any changes to this data that might affect
how learners understand any practice questions used from past papers.
The Principal Examiners Reports for Teachers (PERTs) are very helpful to use in conjunction with mark
schemes. They indicate specific areas where learners performed well or need to improve. Some of these
areas of weakness are mentioned year after year, which might help you decide on the length of time you
should spend on certain areas or how you arrange the order of your teaching.
• The front page of the examination paper contains very important information about the use of
calculators and the accuracy to which non-exact answers should be stated.
o Non-exact answers are required to be given to 3 significant figures (unless the question
states otherwise, and apart from angles given in degrees). Therefore, any working values
used must be more accurate than 3 significant figures. When learners do not do this, they
introduce a premature approximation error and their final answer becomes inaccurate.
o Learners should ensure that calculators are used effectively and are set to the correct mode
prior to starting the exam.
• When working with circles, learners should use the π button on calculators or 3.142. Candidates
22
using 3.14 or might earn method marks but the answer range on mark schemes will exclude
7
these values.
• When drawing graphs, points should be plotted with a sharp pencil and be accurate to within 1 mm.
o If the points lie on a curve, the points should be joined with a smooth freehand curve.
o If the points lie on a straight line (linear graphs) the line should be ruled.
• Correct mathematical terminology should be used when giving reasons in geometry, e.g. circle
theorems, and when describing transformations.
• When learners have answered a question, they should read the final demand line before moving on
to ensure that they have answered the question being asked.
• They should present their work in a clear, logical, step-by-step way. If a learner wants to re-answer a
question or change a solution, it is better to use a fresh sheet of paper or blank page, rather than
squashing solutions into any working space remaining. Poorly presented work can result in learners
misreading their own writing and result in unnecessary errors occurring. In the examination, it is
useful if learners indicate where they have continued their solution if this is the case.
• When a question indicates that a calculator must not be used, learners must ensure that they show
all working steps and arithmetic, in order to provide sufficient evidence that they have followed this
instruction; without the supporting working marks will not be awarded.
• When a question indicates that solutions by accurate drawing are not acceptable, learners should
know that it is still fine for them to make sketches to help in their working. The instruction in this case
is to avoid answers that have been found using scale or accurate drawings when a calculation is
required. Sketches and diagrams are good ways to visualise the mathematics and should be
encouraged.
• Take care to be clear when answering questions involving comparing two or more pieces of data: it
is often unclear which piece of data the learner is discussing and the comparative language is not
used properly.
An example is shown below with green, amber and red codes used to highlight different levels of
achievement on each question.
These are the high level topic areas of the course. Each mark
These are the subject content within a question is mapped to a broad topic area. The numbers
references from the syllabus in the column (see circle below) indicate how many marks can be
mapped to a given topic area for each question. For example, Q5
has a maximum of 2 marks available, and 2 of these marks are
from the topic area ‘probability and statistics’.
Maximum mark available for The mean mark that your class scored on a
the question. question.
This kind of diagnostic data can help you to see if there are any areas of content that your learners are
weaker at than others.
You can use a mail merge to produce individual reports/targets for each learner. You might need support
from your IT administrator to set up the automatic colour-coding and mail merge for reports. Once the
spreadsheet is set up, you can adapt it for different tests.
The ‘command words’ are listed in the syllabus. Think about the skills level required to carry out each of the
commands listed. For example, ‘write down’ indicates a less complex task than ‘show that’ or ‘explain’ since
the latter cases require full and structured evidence to be presented. Ensure learners are familiar with the
command words and key terms used in mathematics.
You can use the Example Candidate Response (ECR) booklet to help explain the meaning of the command
words to learners. The ECR booklet contains candidate responses that have been marked as ‘high’, ‘middle’
and ‘low’ grades and is produced after the first examination has been sat. Showing learners good sample
responses to questions using different command words can help them see how increasing levels of skill
relate to the marks available. Asking questions in ascending order of skill whilst teaching a topic will
encourage learners to ask themselves similar questions when they are learning alone. When they become
practiced at this, they will begin to see patterns emerging where the same processes and logic can be
applied to similar scenarios even if they have not been covered in class.
When possible, the easiest way to find reliable resources is to get them from a colleague who has already
used them and can tell you how good they are.
You can also find resources on the Cambridge Support Hub (see section 5.2 below). There is also a list of
endorses text books to support the course at www.cambridgeinternational.org/i-want-to/resource-centre
Resources from the internet and from books need to be scrutinised to see if they are of use.
5.3 Training
The School Support Hub and Cambridge Events calendar (www.cambridgeinternational.org/events) on our
public website has a list of upcoming training events. These include:
• online courses, self-study and tutor-led courses; the tutor-led courses are highly recommended to
help you improve your teaching skills – these are available at Introductory level for new teachers and
Extension level for those who have already been teaching IGCSE / IGCSE (9–1) Mathematics for
one year
• face-to-face courses, held at venues all over the world at different times throughout the year; these
enable you to meet up with other teachers, and also to interact directly with a trainer from
Cambridge.
In addition, Cambridge runs professional development courses for teachers who want to develop their
thinking and practice. These include a range of Cambridge International Certificate and Diploma level
programmes in:
• Teaching and Learning
• Educational Leadership
• Teaching Bilingual Learners
• Teaching with Digital Technologies
Lesson: School:
Learning objectives to
which this lesson is
contributing
Lesson objectives
Vocabulary, terminology
and phrases
Previous learning
Plan
Planned
Planned activities Resources
timings
Beginning
Middle
End
Additional information
Differentiation: How do you Assessment: How do you Health and safety check; ICT links
plan to give more support? plan to check learning?
How do you plan to
challenge all learners
including the more able
learners?
Reflection Use the space below to reflect on your lesson. Answer the
Were the lesson objectives most relevant questions from the box on the left about your
realistic? What did the learners lesson.
learn today? What was the
learning atmosphere like? Did
my planned differentiation work
well? Did I stick to timings?
What changes did I make from
my plan and why?
Summary evaluation
What two things went really well? (Consider both teaching and learning.)
1.
2.
What two things would have improved the lesson? (Consider both teaching and learning.)
1.
2.
What have I learned from this lesson about the class or individuals that will inform my next
lesson?