Few of us fondly recall studying maths at school, especially the types that have little or no relevance to our daily lives.
But one part of maths that is relevant to everyone is money and finance, especially for those who become tradespeople and self-employed.
Yet it’s students who are most interested in these jobs who tend to be the least interested in studying maths, despite needing to be more financially literate than most.
To bridge this gap, Vocational Education and Training (VET) students at Bayside P-12 College in Williamstown are being taught maths in a way that is more toolbox than textbook.
“If we had to work with a textbook, 100 per cent these students would disengage, misbehave and not learn anything,” said Bayside College VET co-ordinator Angela North of the Cashed Up program which is being taught to Bayside’s Year 11 and 12 VET students for the first time this year.
“The type of learners in the program learn through doing,” she said.
“We talk about taxation and invoicing and payslips, credit card statements, accounting that sort of thing,” said Ms North, adding that most of the 25 students in the program would end up being tradespeople or business owners and use this knowledge everyday.
Ms North said this hands on approach had also been employed to teach other types of maths to VET students too.
“When we are doing shape and area, we design a dream house through an online design website.
“They love it.”
