Current active course description (last updated 2025/26)
Mathematics 1C - Geometry and geometric thinking for teachers
MAT1017
Current active course description (last updated 2025/26)

Mathematics 1C - Geometry and geometric thinking for teachers

MAT1017
Geometry and measurement as well as relevant subject didactics for teacher education for grades 1-10 wherein the main focus will be at the intermediate grades.

In this course, students develop their subject and didactic knowledge related to geometry and measurement for grades 1 - 10. The students will get to know what it means to be a mathematics teacher and to teach according to research-based knowledge.

Important themes throughout the course are learning and teaching within:

  • Measurement and measurement didactics
  • Plan geometry, including definitions, measurement of area, and typical misconceptions
  • Space geometry, including measurement of volume
  • Formality, congruence, congruence transformations and symmetries
  • Geometrical argumentation and proofs, including, among other things, the Pythagorean theorem.

Students learn how children develop their:

  • Understanding of measurement
  • Geometric thinking
Admission to the study programme. If there are places available, the course can be offered independently for qualified applicants.

Knowledge:

The student is exptected to:

  • Have in-depth knowledge of the topics of geometry and measurement that children work with in grades 1-10, with a particular focus on plan geometry, spatial geometry, shape similarity and congruence.
  • Have teaching knowledge of how measurement is related to children's development of geometry and number sense
  • Have knowledge of different types of students' reasoning and argumentation about functions
  • Have knowledge of the content of geometry and measurement at the various levels in primary school and of the transitions from primary to secondary school and from secondary school

Skills:

The student is exptected to:

  • Plan, implement and assess mathematics teaching for all pupils in grades 1-10, with a focus on pupil activity and adaptation for different grades
  • Use working methods that promote students' engagement, wonder, creativity and the ability to work systematically with exploratory activities, reasoning and argumentation
  • Communicate with students, listen to, assess and make use of students' input and stimulate students' mathematical thinking
  • Facilitate early intervention and adapt their teaching to the student's various needs
  • Assess students' knowledge and their development based on relevant didactical theories
  • Analyze, assess and reflect on students' ways of thinking, argumentation, solution methods and common misconceptions based on relevant didactical theories.

General competence:

The student is exptected to:

  • have insight into the importance of mathematics as a general education subject
  • know mathematics didactic research and development work and can discuss research ethics issues.
  • plan, implement and assess professional development work at levels 1-10 in collaboration with others.
  • has a change and development expertise that contributes to collaboration on professional and pedagogical innovation in schools
In addition to the semester fee and curriculum literature, it is assumed that the student has a laptop computer at his disposal.
Elective
In order to develop a research and development competence, the students must work with different methodological approaches, as well as develop a competence in asking research ethical questions. Students in second study years (1-7 and 5-10) get the opportunity to connect this subject to the description in FoU1001 through work requirements related to observations, tests or data collection in practice. Emphasis will also be placed on varied forms of work, especially with a focus at preparing students for different methods of working that they themselves will have to practice with their own students. The teaching will consist of both lectures and student-active forms of learning such as problem solving, group work, presentations, individual tasks and conversations/discussions. Emphasis will also be placed on the use of ICT as a learning support tools in teaching. Parts of teaching can take place in English.
The study program is evaluated annually by the students through course evaluations and study program evaluation. The evaluations are included as part of the university's quality assurance system.

Composite assessment - All parts must be approved/passed before a grade is given.

  • Work requirements: Students must complete 2 work requirements, which can be written submissions, tests or oral presentations. Assessed as Approved/Not approved. Counts 0/100 of the grade.
  • Compulsory attendance: 80% attendance. Evaluated to Approved/Not approved. Counts 0/100 of the grade.
  • Oral exam, 30 minutes. Grade scale A-F. Counts 100/100 of the grade.

Oral exam: aids are decided by the subject teacher.

Generating an answer using ChatGPT or similar any artificial intelligence and delivering it in whole or in part as your own answer is considered cheating.

Overlap refers to a similarity between courses with the same content. Therefore, you will receive the following reduction in credits if you have taken the courses listed below:

MAT1003 - Mathematics 1B, 1-7 - 15 credits

MAT1005 - Mathematics 1B, 5-10 - 7.5 credits

MAT1009 - Mathematics 1B - 7.5 credits