Mathematics Education Centre Research Articles

Educating the Educators: Technology-Enhanced Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Educational research has shown that teaching quality is one of the most important factors in raising student achievement. There is a compelling need for educators to keep abreast of the important developments that are taking place in educational arena. One of the educational areas that has massive development is the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning especially in mathematics. This development needs professional developmentamong educators. Being a regional science and mathematics education centre, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM) has always been cognizant of the importance of these developments. Its training programmes are planned to incorporate these developments for in-service teachers, teacher educators and ministry of education mathematics officers. As the Centre's mandate aims to ensure that these participants from Southeast Asians countriesas well as those from outside the region are equipped with emerging educationaltechnology tools which can enhance teaching and learning of mathematics. This paper will share the Centre’s experiences in continuing professional development among mathematics teacher, teacher educators and officers from the ministry of education on educational innovation and technology.

A short history of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre at Curtin University

This article is presented in four parts. In the first part, I describe the foundation of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) at Curtin University. In the second part, I explain the development of SMEC’s teaching and research capacity under its three directors. In the third section, I describe how federal government support of SMEC as a national Key Centre for Teaching and Research in School Science and Mathematics provided enhanced postgraduate study opportunities for science and mathematics teachers throughout Australia by offering degree programs through distance education and face-to-face contact, short courses, and seminars. At the same time, research and teaching capacity of the academic staff was enhanced through the internationalisation of the programs being offered. In the final section, I describe current and future developments at SMEC.

The ‘M’ in SMEC: a short history of the mathematics education presence

In this paper I examine the history of the integration of mathematics education into the Science Education Centre, which had been established by physicist, John de Laeter, within the School of Science and Engineering at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. De Laeter’s vision for science education was that teachers should have access to professional education that allowed them to extend their discipline and pedagogical knowledge using strategies that brought together theory and practice in ways that were meaningful for teachers. This model was expanded when mathematics education was also included, paving the way also for technology education. I present the history of this integration laying out the themes that are important for the continued educational effectiveness of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) and the role that mathematics education has played in this process. As the title suggests, this article focuses on the activities of the group of mathematics educators who have worked within the Science and Mathematics Education Centre of Curtin University since it was established 30 or so years ago and who have contributed to its reputation. The two streams operated then and now more-or-less independently in matters of student thesis topic choice but offered students opportunities for interaction that might not have been available if the “M” had not been incorporated into the Science Education Centre (SEC). This article’s focus is on the mathematics educators who contributed to the Centre’s success and reputation, highlighting the synergistic relationship between mathematics and science that helped to make SMEC a leading center for mathematics and science education.

Staff Perspectives on the Use of Technology for Enabling Formative Assessment and Automated Feedback

Academic staff from the Mathematics Education Centre (MEC), Loughborough University began using Electronic Voting Systems (EVS) to teach Mathematics to undergraduate Engineering students in the 2007/2008 academic year. Staff members from other departments at the University, such as Geography, Chemical Engineering and Information Skills, have also been using EVS. This study was designed to investigate the views of affected staff about the use of EVS in lectures and associated pedagogic implications. The results show that EVS is generally seen as an effective teaching tool, as its use can enhance student engagement by increasing their participation in class, give lecturers valuable feedback on student understanding, make the classroom more ‘fun’, and enable lecturers to change teaching practice and curriculum in response to student feedback. However, there are technical and pedagogical issues to be overcome in realising the full potential of EVS.

Introducing GeoGebra to foundation year students

Introducing GeoGebra to foundation year students Volume/Issue Vol 9, Issue 2 Date Friday, 1 May, 2009 Journal Name MSOR Connections Author(s) David R. Green Carol L. Robinson Abstract Staff in the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University have been involved in an initiative to introduce GeoGebra [1] to just over 200 students on the Science and Engineering Foundation Studies programme in the academic year 2008-9. Mathematics forms an important part (25%) of the programme for most of the students and their prior knowledge of mathematics is diverse. Some students’ highest mathematics qualification is a GCSE, while others have taken A-level mathematics, but have not obtained combined grades high enough for entry to their chosen degree course. A significant part of the mathematics taught on the foundation programme requires students to manipulate algebraic expressions and to sketch functions. It was decided that GeoGebra would be an ideal tool to, amongst other things, help students link algebraic manipulations with the corresponding graphs and to enable students to see the effect of varying parameters. DOI doi:10.11120/msor.2009.09020006 File upload msor.9.2c.pdf [1]

‘Pretty Lights’ and Maths! Increasing student engagement and enhancing learning through the use of electronic voting systems

University classes in Mathematics are traditionally perceived to be uninspiring and devoid of active student–lecturer communication. Large undergraduate classes further compound the difficulty of engaging students and enabling viable student–lecturer feedback. At the Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, some staff members have been using electronic voting systems (EVS) to enliven the classroom and enable large numbers of students to respond to questions in real time during class. In this paper, we present an evaluation case study, based on student perceptions, of the impact of EVS use on student learning and engagement. The results show that majority of students are hugely positive about the usefulness and overall advantageousness of EVS use in classes. Results also show that EVS use does increase the likelihood of students participating and engaging in class, as even students who do not view EVS as being particularly useful stated that they are more likely to participate in classes where EVS are used than otherwise. However, there seems to be no correlation between EVS use and improvement (or otherwise) in student grades.

Preface

Journal Article Preface Get access Stephen Hibberd, Stephen Hibberd Dr Stephen Hibberd, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD. stephen.hibberd@nottingham.ac.uk Dr Leslie Mustoe, Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, Ashby Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU. L.R.Mustoe@lboro.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Leslie Mustoe Leslie Mustoe Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, Volume 26, Issue 3, September 2007, Pages 109–110, https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrm016 Published: 01 September 2007

Retention and progression of engineering students with diverse mathematical backgrounds

There are increasing concerns about the mathematics ability of students entering higher education. This situation appears to be as a result of the perceived lowering standards of A Levels, a reduction in entry requirements on some courses with a strong mathematical component and the wide-ranging educational backgrounds of many of the students. With Additional Student Numbers (ASN) funding, a pre-sessional course has been introduced at Loughborough University as a collaboration between the Engineering Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (engCETL) and the Mathematics Education Centre (MEC), also a designated Centre for Excellence. The 4 day, residential, pre-sessional course targets engineering students with diverse mathematical backgrounds just before the start of the first year of their degree course. Due to possible gaps in their mathematical knowledge, students with non-traditional mathematics backgrounds are at risk of struggling in traditional lectures where a certain level of knowledge is assumed. The pre-sessional course, called Flying Start, aims both to reinforce the need for mathematical competency and to raise awareness of and to encourage students to engage with the support facilities available to them once they start at University. The main constituents of the Flying Start course are mathematics and engineering key skills workshops. Flying Start was introduced in 2003, growing from a pilot of 11 Electrical Engineering students to 24 students from Electrical, Manufacturing and Materials Engineering in 2005. Following each course, the performance of the Electrical Engineering students is monitored throughout the first year. This article examines the Flying Start students’ academic performance in light of their mathematical background and their uptake of the additional support on offer. Student feedback suggests that the pre-sessional course offers the additional benefit of aiding the students in their transition into higher education. The implications of the feedback and the student performance data are also discussed.

Magic of Mechanics

There is growing concern at the decline in the number of students studying mechanics at A-level standard and the consequences of this for relevant undergraduate courses. This decline is in part due to the implementation of Curriculum 2000 [1], but also the subsequent changes in A-level mathematics in September 2004 [2], [3]. Figures on the uptake and availability of the applied modules that students can study at A-level, e.g. Mechanics, Statistics, Decision & Discrete, were put forward in a paper entitled “Mechanics Teaching in Schools: Implications for Undergraduate Engineering Courses” [4]. There it was shown that the availability and uptake of Statistics was greater than that of Mechanics. For example, 5% of schools did not offer any modules in Mechanics, whereas only 1.25% did not offer any Statistics modules. In addition, changes to A-level mathematics effective from September 2004 reduced the number of applied modules students are required to study and led to the expectation that, in the future, there will be even fewer students who have studied several mechanics modules entering higher education programmes. In response to this situation the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University organised and ran a ‘Magic of Mechanics’ morning aimed at introducing mechanics to college students.

The Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University

The Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University

World of number: a critique, an example of classroom use and some suggestions for future development

Journal Article World of Number: A Critique, an Example of Classroom Use and Some Suggestions for Future Development Get access BRIAN HUDSON BRIAN HUDSON Address for correspondence: Mathematics Education Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, 25 Broomgrove Road, Sheffield S10 2NA, UK Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, Volume 15, Issue 2, June 1996, Pages 56–66, https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/15.2.56 Published: 01 June 1996 Article history Received: 01 September 1995 Accepted: 01 March 1996 Published: 01 June 1996

Students' understanding of light and its properties: Teaching to engender conceptual change

Science EducationVolume 76, Issue 6 p. 653-672 Learning Students' understanding of light and its properties: Teaching to engender conceptual change Tony Fetherstonhaugh, Tony Fetherstonhaugh Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Perth. AustraliaSearch for more papers by this authorDavid F. Treagust, David F. Treagust Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Perth. AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author Tony Fetherstonhaugh, Tony Fetherstonhaugh Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Perth. AustraliaSearch for more papers by this authorDavid F. Treagust, David F. Treagust Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Perth. AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author First published: November 1992 https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730760606Citations: 48AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume76, Issue6November 1992Pages 653-672 RelatedInformation

Handling Data: Using a Computer Database in the Mathematics Classroom

Journal Article Handling Data: Using a Computer Database in the Mathematics Classroom Get access BRAIN HUDSON BRAIN HUDSON Mathematics Education Centre, Sheffield City Polytechnic Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, Volume 9, Issue 1, 1990, Pages 19–23, https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/9.1.19 Published: 01 March 1990

Investigations of exemplary practice in science and mathematics teaching in Western Australia

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsBarry J. FraserAuthors: Kenneth Tobin is Professor of Science Education at Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA. Barry J. Fraser is Professor, Head of School of Curriculum Studies and Director of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia

Telegraphic Reviews

The Mathematics Education Centre (MEC) is a successor of the Mathematics Learning Project and was funded by the British Council in 1978 and 1979 and by the University of Technology since 1980. The MEC supports educational research at all levels and provides assistance to local schools. The papers presented at their first conference include reports on spatial visualization, attitudes, problem solving, calculators, measurement, language factors, computers, algebra, and several other topics. The conference proceedings include a nearly complete list of MEC reports on special topics of interest to mathematics education researchers.