Mathematics Education resources
Staff Resources (13)
And the winner is... mathematics support
At the Times Higher Awards ceremony
on 24th November 2011, it was
announced that Loughborough and
Coventry Universities had won the
award for Outstanding Support for
Students, in recognition of the work
of sigma, Centre for Excellence in
University-wide mathematics and
statistics support.
Whilst sigma at Coventry and Loughborough Universities received the award, the real winner was mathematics and statistics support across the country. In this booklet,
we outline how sigma's work has contributed to the growing recognition of the importance of mathematics and statistics support and to the development of a national and international community of practitioners. Authors : Ciaran Mac an Bhaird and Duncan Lawson
Investigation of International Mathematics Cultures
Recruitment to post-graduate mathematics programmes and to lecturer positions in mathematics departments in UK universities has become dominated by international students and staff. Although mathematics is generally regarded as ‘the universal language’, the reality is that different countries have very different cultures when it comes to the teaching and learning of mathematics. There are significant variations in the pre-university mathematical experience, in terms of the curriculum content, learning styles, levels of abstraction, and assessment methods. Even within the UK, a considerable number of pre-higher education mathematics qualifications are available and, it is not always clear what mathematics can be expected when students commence their degree programmes. With increasing numbers of international students and academic staff in UK HE, the scene is becoming more complicated. Students enter degree courses with a wide range of backgrounds and bring with them very different experiences. At the same time, academic staff, having experienced different education systems, may have some unrealistic expectations from their students.
With an HEA Teaching Development Grant (Individual Scheme 2012 -2013), this research by Aiping Xu, Coventry University has investigated the mathematical cultures of a range of the main international suppliers (of students and staff) to UK HE mathematics departments. Using semi-structured interviews and online questionnaires, personal experiences of academic staff who have studied or taught more than two educational systems have been drawn upon. Some examinations have also been studied in detail.
Mathematical transitions: a report on the mathematical and statistical needs of students undertaking undergraduate studies in various disciplines
Mathematics and Statistics are essential to the university curricula of many disciplines. The purpose of the Higher Education Academy STEM project was to investigate the mathematical and statistical requirements in a range of discipline areas including: Business and Management, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Sociology and Psychology. Reports were commissioned from discipline experts to provide a strong evidence base to inform developments within the disciplines and dialogue between the higher education and pre-university sectors.
This report by Jeremy Hodgen, Mary McAlinden and Anthony Tomei summarises the findings of these project reports and of similar work in other disciplines. It introduces some high-level contextual evidence from the pre-university sector, in particular data about trends in public examinations, and highlights important policy developments in pre-university Mathematics education. The report also includes high level recommendations regarding Mathematics and Statistics within the context of other disciplines, with a particular focus on the point of transition into higher education. (2014)
Mathematics after 16: the state of play, challenges and ways ahead
This report is based on a presentation given by the author, Josh
Hillman, on 17 March at the first Q-Step conference, Counting them
in: quantitative social science and the links between secondary and higher
education. Other presentations from the day are available at
www.nuffieldfoundation.org/q-step.
Josh Hillman is Director of Education at the Nuffield Foundation.
Josh Hillman, Mathematics after 16: the state of play, challenges and
ways ahead, (London: Nuffield Foundation, 2014)
Maths EG Teacher Interface
The teacher interface for Maths EG which may be used for computer-aided assessment of maths, stats and numeracy from GCSE to undergraduate level 2. These resources have been made available under a Creative Common licence by Martin Greenhow and Abdulrahman Kamavi, Brunel University. Teachers need to register (top right of screen) and thereafter login to use the system, after which they may use it to compose their own tests by selecting (specifically or randomly) questions from the entire database of questions. Instructions are available from the title page.
Numbas Editor
Numbas is a free, open-source e-assessment web-based system developed and used extensively at Newcastle University (http://numbas.mathcentre.ac.uk/). Numbas consists of a set of tools which produce SCORM-compliant exam packages particularly suitable for creating formative assessment and learning materials in mathematics, statistics and numeracy.
ROBBINS REVISITED - Bigger and Better Higher Education
A report by The Rt Hon. David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science, revisiting issues in Higher Education first reported on by Robbins in 1963.
Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in Business and Management and tackling transition
This report by Michaela J Cottee, Amanda Relph and Karen Robins is one of a series of outputs produced by the Higher Education Academy STEM project: Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in the disciplines and tackling transition. The project seeks to provide a strong evidence base to inform dialogue between the pre-university and higher education sectors about the need for students to develop and apply mathematical and statistical skills within a range of discipline areas within higher education. Throughout a particular emphasis is placed on the transition into university study.
The focus of this report is the Business and Management discipline. The report examines a wide range of factors including the mathematical and statistical skills requirements within the discipline, key sector requirements and staff and student expectations. Evidence collected from a literature review, surveys and a discussion event is presented and used to inform findings and recommendations. (2014)
Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in Chemistry and tackling transition
This report by Dudley E Shallcross and Paul C Yates is one of a series of outputs produced by the Higher Education Academy STEM project: Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in the disciplines and tackling transition. The project seeks to provide a strong evidence base to inform dialogue between the pre-university and higher education sectors about the need for students to develop and apply mathematical and statistical skills within a range of discipline areas within higher education. Throughout a particular emphasis is placed on the transition into university study.
The focus of this report is the Chemistry discipline. The report examines a wide range of factors including the mathematical and statistical skills requirements within the discipline, key sector requirements and staff and student expectations. Evidence collected from a literature review, surveys and a discussion event is presented and used to inform findings and recommendations. (2014)
Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in Economics and tackling transition
This report by Peter Dawson is one of a series of outputs produced by the Higher Education Academy STEM project: Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in the disciplines and tackling transition. The project seeks to provide a strong evidence base to inform dialogue between the pre-university and higher education sectors about the need for students to develop and apply mathematical and statistical skills within a range of discipline areas within higher education. Throughout a particular emphasis is placed on the transition into university study.
The focus of this report is the Economics discipline. The report examines a wide range of factors including the mathematical and statistical skills requirements within the discipline, key sector requirements and entrance qualifications. Evidence collected from a literature review and a discussion event is presented and used to inform findings and recommendations. (2014)
Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in Geography and tackling transition
This report by Catherine Souch, Katherine Fitzpatrick and Richard Harris is one of a series of outputs produced by the Higher Education Academy STEM project: Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in the disciplines and tackling transition. The project seeks to provide a strong evidence base to inform dialogue between the pre-university and higher education sectors about the need for students to develop and apply mathematical and statistical skills within a range of discipline areas within higher education. Throughout a particular emphasis is placed on the transition into university study.
The focus of this report is the Geography discipline. The report examines a wide range of factors including the mathematical and statistical skills requirements within the discipline, key sector requirements and staff and student expectations. Evidence collected from a literature review, surveys, interviews and a discussion event is presented and used to inform findings and recommendations. (2014)
Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in Sociology and tackling transition
This report by Julie Scott Jones and John Goldring is one of a series of outputs produced by the Higher Education Academy STEM project: Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in the disciplines and tackling transition. The project seeks to provide a strong evidence base to inform dialogue between the pre-university and higher education sectors about the need for students to develop and apply mathematical and statistical skills within a range of discipline areas within higher education. Throughout a particular emphasis is placed on the transition into university study.
The focus of this report is the Sociology discipline. The report examines a wide range of factors including the mathematical and statistical skills requirements within the discipline, key sector requirements and staff and student expectations. Evidence collected from a literature review, surveys and discussion events is presented and used to inform findings and recommendations. (2014)
Vision for science and mathematics education
A report containing the Royal Society's Vision for science and mathematics education over the next 20 years. This includes a proposal for a broad and balanced curriculum, where young people study science and mathematics until 18 alongside arts, humanities and social sciences. The Royal Society Policy Centre report 01/14 issued June 2014 DES3090.