Foundation Maths

Purpose and Structure 

The course is designed for those students who wish to study minimal Mathematics in Year 11 or do not intend to pursue the study of Mathematics beyond Year 11 level. 

 This subject is the recommended option for students completing the Vocational Major (VM), but is also open to any students completing their VCE.  Foundation Mathematics Units 1 and 2 focus on providing students with the mathematical knowledge, skills, understanding and dispositions to solve problems in real contexts for a range of workplace, personal, further learning, and community settings relevant to contemporary society. They are also designed as preparation for Foundation Mathematics Units 3 and 4 and contain assumed knowledge and skills for these units. In Year 12, Foundation Mathematics would be run as an ‘unscored’ subject without the formalities of the November VCE examination. 

Foundation Mathematics provides courses for diverse groups of students. The areas of study for Foundation Mathematics Unit 2 are ‘Algebra, number and structure’, ‘Data analysis, Probability and Statistics’, ‘Discrete mathematics’, and ‘Space and measurement’. 

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the following set of outcomes.    

On the completion of this unit the student should be able to:  

• Define and explain key concepts in relation to the topics from the selected areas of study, and apply a range of related mathematical routines and procedures  

• Apply mathematical processes in contexts and analyse and discuss these applications of mathematics  

• Use technology to produce results and carry out analysis in situations requiring problem solving, investigative techniques or approaches. 

• Assessment for each unit will have a focus on the communication of understanding during and after a topic’s completion. These assessments will vary in style and form.