Dave Tout

Dave Tout

Senior Research Fellow in the Vocational, Adult and Workplace Education (VAWE) Services Program at ACER

Dave Tout joined ACER in 2008, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow in the Vocational, Adult and Workplace Education (VAWE) Services Program at ACER. Prior to this Dave was Manager, VAWE from 2012-16 and a Senior Research Fellow in the Assessment and Reporting Division.

Dave has demonstrated leadership in curriculum, assessment and materials development especially in relationship to numeracy and mathematics education for both young people and adults. Dave has had over 40 years’ experience in education, with most being in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, and has worked in a range of programs in schools, Technical and Further Education institutions (TAFE), community providers, universities, and industry. He has had wide experience not only in teaching and training, but also in working at a state, national and international level in research, curriculum, assessment and materials development. In 2018 Dave was appointed by the OECD as Chair of the Numeracy Expert Group for Cycle 2 of PIAAC and is overseeing and directing the numeracy assessment of PIAAC, including of the framework and the quality of the test content.

13 total results
Real life numeracy contexts – the spark to ignite mathematics learning
Real life numeracy contexts – the spark to ignite mathematics learning

‘Our strong recommendation is to get creative and put real life contexts front and centre of your lessons, making mathematics relevant, engaging and meaningful…’ Justine Sakurai, Carly Sawatzki and Dave Tout discuss contextualised teaching and learning of mathematics through the exploration of six numeracy contexts, and provide several examples of what this could look like in the classroom.

Supporting critical numeracy and maths skills in teaching and learning
Supporting critical numeracy and maths skills in teaching and learning

In today’s article, Dave Tout, Justine Sakurai and Carly Sawatzki discuss numeracy and its relationship with mathematics, and the importance of real-world contexts. They’ll also share a problem-solving cycle to help students develop their skills, and a classroom example of health numeracy, using trampolining as a focus for mathematical investigation.

Why numeracy and mathematics both count
Why numeracy and mathematics both count

‘Evidence shows that both young people and adults need to have both sets of skills and knowledge – numeracy and mathematics are different, but mutually beneficial and critical. Hence the critical need to connect the two, and not ignore either.’

The teacher as a facilitator and resource person
The teacher as a facilitator and resource person

In the final instalment of his 10-part series on real-world maths, Dave Tout looks at the role of the teacher as a facilitator and resource person.

Assessment in context-based teaching and learning
Assessment in context-based teaching and learning

‘In an applied, investigative, context-based task, much of the learning and achievement of outcomes occurs during the process of undertaking the task.’

Teaching in context – resources and materials
Teaching in context – resources and materials

What resources are needed for teaching in context? Dave Tout discusses.

Targeting content to individual skills
Targeting content to individual skills

‘You need to plan for what might arise, remembering that the range of skills and abilities of the group is likely to be very wide.’ Dave Tout discusses identifying individual maths skills and targeting lessons.

Mathematical investigations: Refining and defining a task
Mathematical investigations: Refining and defining a task

When connecting maths to the real world, how do you move from a chosen theme or context into something achievable for you and your learners? Dave Tout discusses.

Teaching in context – finding the starting point
Teaching in context – finding the starting point

Dave Tout discusses the first stage of connecting maths to the real world – negotiating a theme or context.

Planning for context-based teaching
Planning for context-based teaching

Teaching mathematics using a problem solving approach requires preparation if it is going to work. So, how do you go about it? Dave Tout outlines one possible process.