Courses

AIMSSEC identified the need to narrow the gap between opportunities for previously disadvantaged rural South African teachers with respect to transition rates into mathematics and science careers for their learners. The primary gap was identified in schools where there was a need for teachers to increase their content knowledge and their pedagogical approaches in order to raise the quality of teaching and learning mathematics.

AIMSSEC’s programmes are designed to address this gap through the use of continuous professional development. These programmes include:

1. The seven-course sequence to train teachers to be mathematics subject leaders;
2. The 3-month AIMSSEC Mathematical Thinking (MT) course, endorsed with 25 professional development points by the South African Council for Educators (Service Provider Number: PR11011).

These courses are designed for the majority of mathematics teachers who are mathematically under-qualified, preparing them to be more effective teachers, heads of departments and subject advisers. To develop expert teachers from the continuous professional development programme in South Africa, AIMSSEC follows a blended learning approach which includes: residential modules, distance learning, online forums, end of year examinations and interactive whiteboard sessions. AIMSSEC’s first book, Mathematical Thinking in the lower secondary classroom, was published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in 2016, giving educators access to resources for professional development and classroom practice.

AIMSSEC also provides intensive Educational Technology training on all residential courses, covering key Educational Technology skills including email, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, GeoGebra and use of the internet. This Educational Technology course is currently offered as part of the Mathematical Thinking course. AIMSSEC is currently exploring the future prospect of a Master’s in Mathematics Education. To date, AIMSSEC has trained over 2 500 teachers on the first course MT with residential component before COVID 19 and 257 teachers on the fully online MT course, 95 on the second course MCL (Mathematical Communication and Language), 77 on the third course DIMC (Differentiation and Inclusion in the Mathematics Classroom), while 215 teachers graduated from the two year Advanced Certificate in Teaching (ACT) course. We thank all our sponsors for making this amazing opportunity to invest in South Africa possible.