More Maths Grads HE Curriculum theme

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More Maths GradsHE Curriculum theme

• Neil Challis
• Mike Robinson
• Mike Thomlinson

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What does "HE Curriculum theme" mean?

• It is not about telling people what topics they
  should be teaching, although see next slide...
• It is about holding up a mirror concerning...

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What does "HE Curriculum theme" mean?

• ...
• how we support students
• transition from or connection to A Level
• student and staff attitudes and aspirations
• particular issues such as employability and
  employer involvement
• and therefore, curriculum!!

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What have we been doing? 1

• Working in four institutions to gather data
• Large questionnaire to first year students
• Interviews with members of staff and tutors
• Interviews and focus groups with students
• Analysing the data.

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What have we been doing? 2

• Considering particular issues
• Alternative entry routes, particularly for adult
  returners
• Polymaths, prep years, access courses, Open
  University, A-level (!)
• Information is an issue
• Foundation degrees
• Nature
• Market SEMTA role biosciences

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What have we been doing? 3

• Considering particular issues
• Employability of our graduates, and the place of
  careers considerations
• Careers awareness for soon-to-be graduates
• Employability whose job to develop generic
  graduate skills?
• Regional diversity
• Cf the Steele report and broader entry courses

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How do we view what we are doing?

• We are not finding definitive answers and
  pronouncing from on high
• We are not producing a Good (or Best - ugh)
  Practice Guide
• We are trying
• to spread good ideas,
• to get more people talking and sharing

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What kinds of issues are arising from our data?

• Many diverse issues
• Some are blindingly obvious
• Today we shall focus on one idea
• student experience
• staff experience
• contrast/tension between them
• do we need to think differently?

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The student viewpoint

• Major life change - maths is not their only
  (main?) concern
• "it was hard you were just moving to somewhere
  new as well and you had to do your work as well
  I cant cook I didnt know how to wash my
  clothes I had to learn"

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The student viewpoint

• Maths isn't what they expected...
• "the reality of what maths is like post A-level
  is a bit of a surprise
• "it was really different... more computers than
  I was expecting. I expected it to be a bit more
  like pure maths
• "School was easier but this is more interesting
  and better"

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The student viewpoint

• ...especially for students without Further Maths
  in a department where most students have it
• "I think its a lot harder than what I
  expected... I had my interview and I said Would
  it be a problem, that Ive not done further
  maths? and they said No thats fine and then
  we had like so many lectures... and I was like
  Whats that? and they said Oh didnt you do
  that in further maths? I think if I had known it
  was going to be this hard I dont think I would
  have done it... I probably wouldnt have come to
  this university."

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The student viewpoint

• The teaching/learning methods are new to them
• "I found it you know, strange to be in such big
  classes, because you know, last year I was in a
  Further Maths class of me and another girl.
• "It needs a lot of discipline and it's totally
  different.
• "I just felt really stupid, asking for help in
  front of everyone."

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The student viewpoint

• Why did they choose maths?

challenge
earning potential
good at it
enjoyment
wide job prospects
respected degree
for a specific career
to learn more maths
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The student viewpoint

• What career plans do they have?
• Fewer than half have any idea. Of those

banking
something with maths
research meteorology statistician code breaking
finance
law
insurance
accountancy
actuary
teaching
earning a lot
business/management
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The staff viewpoint

• Strong evidence of staff committed to good
  teaching - albeit with some reservations
• "Undergraduate teaching pays the rent. You do it
  well because you have more fun with it that way.
  But one large part of my motivation for teaching
  undergraduates, is getting postgraduates to do
  research with me."

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The staff viewpoint

• Staff acknowledge diversity of students...
• ...but focus on perceived shortcomings...
• ...of which there are many!

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The staff viewpoint

• Poor basic skills/patchy subject knowledge
• "They don't understand fractions, so when it
  comes to algebraic manipulation, it's not second
  nature and you can see them struggling."

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The staff viewpoint

• Algorithmic approach
• Most schools seem to provide a fairly
  instrumentalist algorithmic approach to almost
  everything"
• "A-level mentality is preparing for exams,
  learning methods, when you see this sort of
  question this is the way you should answer it and
  train, train, train"

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The staff viewpoint

• Inability to write maths well
• "One of my big things is getting the students to
  write their Mathematics properly. Its no good
  just bunging down a load of unconnected
  statements"
• "What really annoys me is that students don't
  use mathematical language and they use equals
  signs with gay abandon"

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The staff viewpoint

• Attendance/commitment/attitude
• "They've been brought up with an exam culture of
  course at school, it's very test test test test."
• "..by the time people have come to us from
  school, they already have it absolutely ingrained
  in them that coursework is for marks. They don't
  get a mark, they don't do it. Okay, this is
  terrible. But if we don't mark coursework we know
  they wouldn't do it and so they wouldn't learn."

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The staff viewpoint

• Lack of rigour/concept of proof
• When they get here its sort of the first
  time theyve ever met a proof, they have no idea
  what, whats expected. The proof just looks like
  a big scary word"

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The staff viewpoint

• Lack of interest in the subject for its own sake
• "You know, we get all wrapped up in the syllabus
  and maths, definitions and proofs but, but our
  typical student wants a, wants a good 2i and a
  good job."

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The staff viewpoint

• We acknowledge (?grudgingly) that our students
  are not like us
• we cater (often very well) to the weaker
  students (whilst complaining about it)
• but we'd prefer it more if they were more like
  us
• Result staff and students alike may become
  disheartened/disillusioned

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The solution?

• Some say not more maths grads, but better maths
  grads (higher entry requirements)
• staff at two of the institutions in this study
  want to head in this direction
• will it resolve the tension between staff and
  student aspirations?
• what will it do to the maths 'ecosystem'?
• An alternative way of thinking

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What's really essential?

• What are the skills and attitudes that make a
  'good' mathematician?
• Are they the same ones valued by employers?

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What's really essential?

• "what people dont really realise about a maths
  degree is that its, its a skills degree and
  when you go off into work, youre not saying,
  'Oh look I can integrate this.' Its to do with,
  'Look Im capable of thought on this level, Im
  capable with this of dealing with this level of
  abstraction, Im capable of using models and Im
  capable of applying my brain in a really strange
  way, and problem solving'. "

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What's really essential?

• We could add other skills/attitudes logical
  argument, the place of rigour, knowing how to
  approach a new problem,
• Few of the skills are directly related to
  specific syllabus content
• yet we still design our courses around specific
  topics - and expect our students to pick up the
  important skills en-route

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What's really essential?

• Focus on the skills and attitudes valued
  mathematicians (and employers?)
• Why do we include specific topics?
• as a vehicle to develop mathematical attitudes?
• to create a coherent course overall?
• because the topic is needed after graduation?
• Teach less - students learn more?
• Hierarchical nature means this has to be
  course-wide, not within individual modules

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What would we gain?

• Time to develop the missing 'basics' and the
  skills and attitudes we value
• A change in attitude overcrowded syllabi
  encourage many students to focus on 'how to pass'
  just as at A-level
• A subject that is more accessible
• A subject that develops from A-level rather than
  forever seeking to 'bridge the gap'.
• A happier staff and student body?

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What would we lose?

• Specific topics required by future researchers
  (but if they've got the basics, and they're so
  good)
• The reputation that maths is a hard subject

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More maths grads, or better?

• More applicants overall still means courses with
  the top reputations can increase their entry
  requirements
• We need the non-high-flyers too
• We're not all the same - do potential students
  understand the differences?
• We need the right person on the right course

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What comes next?

• So having got that out of our system.
• Outputs
• Sequence of articles, reports etc
• Guide(s)
• Maths _at_ Uni
• Good Ideas online
• interactive, sharing, forming a web community
• Workshops

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What else comes next?

• A heightened level of awareness, debate,
  development (we hope)
• Relationship to STEM continuation
• Offer of consultancy support during Autumn
• Evaluation of changes and innovations?
• You got a problem? We can tell you what other
  people have done and what they learned, to help
  you decide what to do?
• What do you perceive we can usefully offer?

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Contact us

• n.challis_at_shu.ac.uk
• m.robinson_at_shu.ac.uk
• m.thomlinson_at_shu.ac.uk
• www.moremathsgrads.org.uk