THE: “Maths teaching seeks the formula for good graduates”

You can listen to me say this as episode 8 of the podcast.

There is an article on the website of Times Higher Education (THE) ‘Maths teaching seeks the formula for good graduates‘, which is about the report of the HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit, now in its print-ready form (and indeed copies are printed and ready to distribute).

I am pleased to see this work being reported by THE although the focus is perhaps slightly more to the negative than I would have put it. Much from the Summit report does not fit in the article, of course, and some of the content of the comment pieces ‘Taking Control of the Assessment Agenda’ (p. 21) and ‘What do the students think about their Maths degrees?’ (p. 25) is reported as if it were consensus. Anyway, the general theme is that maths teaching at university has some room to improve, which I think the Summit agreed with, and the article points out the report identifies “both challenges and possible solutions”. We are taking forward these possible solutions through our Third Call for Funding, which closes today. I have spent the last six weeks touring the country holding meetings about this funding and taking phone and email queries so I am looking forward to receiving a good number of high quality applications today. Hopefully we, as a mathematical sciences community, will be able to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the National HE STEM Programme through the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Fund to take up the Summit recommendations and meet the challenges highlighted in the THE article, and then some!

Talk at Young Researchers in Mathematics: ‘Technology in mathematics HE teaching & learning’

At Young Researchers in Mathematics 2011, 14th-16th April 2011, University of Warwick, I gave the pre-dinner talk on the second night on ‘Technology in mathematics HE teaching & learning’. This is a demo of some ways people are including technology in their teaching, learning and assessment and follows the talk on the first night, ‘Innovation in mathematics HE teaching & learning‘, which was a lively discussion about university teaching.

Here is a recording:

There are many ways in which technology can be used to benefit students in mathematical sciences HE teaching and learning that you may wish to explore during your academic career. However, there are also ways in which technology can be misused, or a lot of effort can be undertaken to little or no benefit. This talk discusses developments in HE curriculum particularly relating to technology in teaching, drawing on examples from work funded by the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project, and discusses the process of determining when innovations are needed and whether they are effective.
Recorded at Young Researchers in Mathematics 2011, 15th March 2011, University of Warwick.
The Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project is operated by Peter Rowlett, MSOR Network as part of the National HE STEM Programme.

Talk at Young Researchers in Mathematics: ‘Innovation in mathematics HE teaching & learning’

At Young Researchers in Mathematics 2011, 14th-16th April 2011, University of Warwick, I gave the pre-dinner talk on the first night on ‘Innovation in mathematics HE teaching & learning’. Here is a recording:

Here is the abstract:

There are many issues in mathematical sciences HE teaching and learning that, if you are just setting out on an academic career or hoping to, you will need to address during your time as a lecturer. A lively discussion considered mathematics HE teaching and what might be expected from graduates of mathematics degrees. The talk gave developments – recently undertaken or that may be needed – in HE curriculum, drawing on examples from work funded by the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project, including from a high level Summit convened in January 2011 to discuss priorities in curriculum development in HE mathematical sciences. Details are given of a £150,000 funding call for curriculum innovation projects in mathematical sciences which is currently open to bids.
Recorded at Young Researchers in Mathematics 2011, 14th March 2011, University of Warwick.

HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit report manuscript

In the previous post and elsewhere, I promised three big announcements. Here is the second.

In January we held the HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit and the findings from this were to be written up for dissemination. The report is now ready. In fact, this is the manuscript version of the report. We are having this prepared for printing but it is available now as a first look.

HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit report manuscript

The HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit took place at the University of Birmingham on 12 January 2011, operated by the Maths, Stats and OR (MSOR) Network as part of the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project within the National HE STEM Programme. This brought together: Heads of Mathematics or their representatives from 26 universities offering mathematics degrees (about half of those in England and Wales); Education representatives from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the Royal Statistical Society, the Operational Research Society and the Council for the Mathematical Sciences; members of the National HE STEM Programme, sigma and the MSOR Network; and several individuals.

The day was chaired by Prof. Duncan Lawson and opened with a debate, in which Prof. Alexandre Borovik of University of Manchester proposed and Jon McLoone of Wolfram Research opposed the motion ‘We believe that memory, subject knowledge and technical fluency remain vital for undergraduate mathematicians in the digital age’. Following this, breakout groups discussed the topics: ‘We can’t let them graduate unless…’; ‘If maths students can’t communicate in writing or speak in public – is that my problem?’; and, ‘If most maths graduates “aren’t confident” in handling unfamiliar problems – should we care?’ After lunch the Summit received feedback from the morning discussions and an update on employer engagement activity from the Mathematical Sciences Strand by David Youdan.  The Summit heard and discussed presentations from Prof. Jeremy Levesley on ‘Taking control of the assessment agenda’ and Dr. Neil Challis on ‘What do the students think about their Maths degrees?’ A final set of breakout sessions considered the topic: ‘Imagine there is £100k-£150k in total available to support curriculum development across the sector, how best should this be targeted and what are the priority areas?’

The Summit report contains reports on the debates, presentations and discussions held at the Summit and a summary of the recommendations made in the final discussion groups for priority activities in HE mathematics curriculum development. As well as being a record of current sector priorities, these recommendations will be considered when planning activities for the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project.

Download the manuscript version of the Summit report. (N.B. this document is currently being prepared for print so the layout and page numbers will change but the document is provided here to support the Third Call for Funding from the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project.)

‘Developing Graduate Skills in HE Mathematics Programmes’ booklet released

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed me saying I’ve been juggling a few things this week trying to get three big announcements out. Here’s the first.

We funded Jeff Waldock at Sheffield Hallam University to collect a series of case studies on ‘Developing Graduate Skills in HE Mathematics Programmes’. Well, the booklet of case studies is ready. The printer has it today and the PDF is online at the project website.

Jeff and I are planning to tour a workshop offering the findings from this workshop and details of funding to support lecturers bringing the ideas from this into their own teaching. Details of this are below.

Developing Graduate Skills in HE Mathematics Programmes Workshop

There are significant barriers involved when seeking to modify Mathematics programmes to encourage the development of graduate skills. One barrier is the practical difficulty of finding space for graduate skill development in a crowded curriculum. This can be addressed, at least in part, through different approaches toward learning, teaching and assessment that allow skill development to take place alongside the development of the mathematical skills, and by encouraging students to take part in extra-curricular activities.

A series of short case studies have been collected, each focussed on specific graduate skills, providing examples of ways in which these have been successfully developed through curricular initiatives. There is a wide variety of work reported, both in terms of the skills developed as well as the type of courses and institutions involved. The hope and expectation is, therefore, that there will be something of interest and relevance to everyone who has a desire to make curricular changes aimed at improving the ‘graduate’ skill levels of their students.

Project leader Jeff Waldock and, where possible, case study authors will present the background to the project and describe the case studies. There will be discussion of barriers, drivers and enablers, and how these might affect practice, particularly in the light of the poor record many mathematics students have with regard to employability skills. Participants will be invited to discuss the issues raised by the case studies and make proposals for adapting their own teaching.

A call for funding will be available until 31 May 2011 for funding of £1,000 (may be paid to individuals rather than employers if appropriate) to take up ideas from the booklet. You should look to adapt one or more of the ideas from the booklet in a way that suits your circumstances. This may look to replicate one of the activities described, or it might draw on some elements of one or more of these. Trial your proposed activity and conduct an evaluation of it. Write a case study detailing what you did and giving the findings of the evaluation. (Please note: This funding is to support new development and is not to support the write up of activity which has already been completed.) Details of this funding call will be made available at the workshop or can be obtained by emailing Peter Rowlett.

This workshop will take place at:
University of York, 18th April (jointly with the National HE STEM Programme North East Spoke);
Manchester Metropolitan University, 5th May (jointly with the National HE STEM Programme North West Spoke);
University of Bath, 10th May (jointly with the National HE STEM Programme South West Spoke);
Cardiff University, 11th May (jointly with the National HE STEM Programme Wales Spoke);
University of Greenwich, 17th May;
University of Birmingham, 19th May (provisional) (jointly with the National HE STEM Programme Midlands and East Anglia Spoke).

Mathematics HE Summit – January 2011

Here is an update I have written, really for a HE mathematician audience, about the Summit:

The Mathematics HE Summit took place at the University of Birmingham on 12 January 2011, operated by the Maths, Stats and OR (MSOR) Network as part of the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project within the National HE STEM Programme. This brought together: Heads of Mathematics or their representatives from 25 universities offering mathematics degrees (about half of those in England and Wales); Education representatives from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the Royal Statistical Society, the Operational Research Society and the Council for the Mathematical Sciences; members of the National HE STEM Programme, sigma and the MSOR Network; and several individuals.

The day was chaired by Prof. Duncan Lawson and opened with a debate, in which Prof. Alexandre Borovik of University of Manchester proposed and Jon McLoone of Wolfram Research opposed the motion ‘We believe that memory, subject knowledge and technical fluency remain vital for undergraduate mathematicians in the digital age’. Following this, breakout groups discussed the topics: ‘We can’t let them graduate unless…’; ‘If maths students can’t communicate in writing or speak in public – is that my problem?’; and ‘If most maths graduates “aren’t confident” in handling unfamiliar problems – should we care?’ After lunch the Summit received feedback from the morning discussions and an update on employer engagement activity from the Mathematical Sciences Strand by David Youdan. The Summit heard and discussed presentations from Prof. Jeremy Levesley on ‘Taking control of the assessment agenda’ and Dr. Neil Challis on ‘What do the students think about their Maths degrees?’ A final set of breakout sessions considered the topic: ‘Imagine there is £100k-£150k in total available to support curriculum development across the sector, how best should this be targeted and what are the priority areas?’

The National HE STEM Programme is a large scale initiative funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils for England and Wales (HEFCE and HEFCW) which aims to address widening participation, curriculum innovation and higher level skills in the workforce in Mathematical Sciences, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering, with a particular interest in the role of employers in these activities. The Mathematical Sciences Strand is overseen by a group of societies and others, comprising the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the London Mathematical Society (LMS), the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences (HoDoMS), sigma and the MSOR Network. Within the Mathematical Sciences Strand, the MSOR Network is responsible for HE Curriculum Innovation – exploring current learning, teaching and assessment practices within mathematical sciences departments, and disseminating good practice. The MSOR Network has employed Peter Rowlett to operate this activity, which runs until July 2012.

Initial feedback from the Summit has been very positive. Michael Grove, National HE STEM Programme Director, said, “It was great to see so many people from the mathematics community involved, and great to see so many people present with whom the Programme is currently working.” The Summit provided a day of debate, provocative presentations and discussion which was captured by a group of volunteer notetakers. The findings will be written up for dissemination and used by the MSOR Network when planning activities in the remainder of the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project.

Mathematics HE Summit

On 12th January 2011 the Mathematical Sciences HE Curriculum Innovation Project convened a Mathematics HE Summit. This brought together representatives of 25 university mathematics departments, Education representatives from the IMA, RSS, OR Society, the Council for the Mathematical Sciences and people from the National HE STEM Programme, sigma and the MSOR Network to discuss some serious, high level questions about Mathematics HE. The night before the Summit, I recorded some thoughts on what was to come, the structure of the day and what we hoped to get out of it and these are available on the podcast:

6 – Some thoughts recorded the night before the Mathematics HE Summit, Peter Rowlett

We had people taking notes in the discussion sessions and when these are collected we intend to spend some time on a decent write up of the event to disseminate. I hope this will say something of the current state of, and hot issues in, Mathematics HE.