Lorraine Jacob

Biography

Lorraine Jacob is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and my area of specialization is primary mathematics education. She has been a primary school teacher in various regions of Western Australia  including the Kimberley, the wheat belt and Perth. Before joining Murdoch University in 2009 she worked in the Western Australian Department of Education as a numeracy consultant for the Getting it Right Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. This work involved providing ongoing professional learning to Numeracy Specialist Teachers, and in-school support, as they worked with teachers in classrooms around the state. Prior to this she was a member of the  First Steps in Mathematics research team  based at Murdoch University under the leadership of Professor Sue Willis. She was one of a number of teacher researchers working in  particular locations around the state. Subsequently I was part of the  team that synthesized  the First Steps in Mathematics Diagnostic Maps that identified and described characteristic phases in the development of students’ thinking about major mathematical concepts.  In addition Shewas part of the team that wrote both the First Steps in Mathematics resources for teachers, and the accompanying First Steps in Mathematics professional learning program for the Department of Education. The First Steps in Mathematics resources have enjoyed both national and international success.

Research Interest

Lorraine Jacob research interests currently span three areas: The effectiveness of   professional learning particularly that tailored to assist early career teachers in remote schools tasked with improving numeracy outcomes for Indigenous students. Improving mathematics learning outcomes for low achieving students. The development of multiplicative thinking in children. Mathematics involving fractions, decimals, ratio, proportion and algebra all belong to a conceptual field of mathematics requiring multiplicative thinking. Many students do not fully develop multiplicative thinking and as consequence do not make good progress in  mathematics in upper  primary and secondary school. My Masters topic was The development of multiplicative thinking in young children. Her aim is to further pursue this crucial area by generating publications from my Masters dissertation.