My blog is Travels in a Mathematical World.
Math/Maths Podcast: Peter Rowlett in the UK calls Samuel Hansen in the US and the pair discuss topical mathematics. A podcast from Pulse-Project.org.
Get latest episode (9 Jan 2013).
Travels in a Mathematical World Podcast is a set of 64 episodes of mathematicians speaking in their own words about their work, maths history and maths news.
Get all 64 episodes.
Visit my YouTube channel for videos on puzzles and maths history, as well as higher education maths curriculum talks.
My research is in teaching, learning and assessment in mathematics and statistics in higher education. Partly, this is through my PhD, which is looking at e-assessment in mathematics. Otherwise, this is through my role at the MSOR Network.
On this page:
Elsewhere on the site, you can view my research publications, research talks and talks about maths promotion. View my profile on Google Scholar.
Recent research projects
Mathematics lecturers' views of the advantages and disadvantages of electronic and traditional assessment
As part of my PhD research, I conducted semi-structured interviews with teaching staff at two universities and an online questionnaire based on the interview findings. I took my findings to the Nottingham Trent University Annual Teaching and Learning Conference 2011 'Learning and Technology'. A paper has been published in the NTU ALTC 2011 proceedings (pp. 19-20). I published a video giving a brief summary of findings and suggesting next steps for this research.
HE Mathematics Curriculum Summit
As part of my current role at MSOR we held a Summit in January 2011 which brought together Heads of mathematics or their representatives from 26 universities offering degrees in mathematics (about half of those in England and Wales), Education representatives from relevant professional bodies (IMA, RSS, OR Society, CMS) and several individuals for a day of debate and discussion about the current state of HE mathematics and priorities for curriculum development. The Summit findings are available in a report I edited and I have presented the findings at meetings at the universities: Cardiff, York, Manchester Met, Bath, Greenwich and Birmingham as well as at the CETL-MSOR Conference 2011 at Coventry University. As well as the report, the main outcome from this research is the directing of £160,000 of HE STEM funding to identified sector priorities. I contacted the editors of the Times Higher Education when this was published and a piece was published about the report as Maths teaching seeks the formula for good graduates (no. 1,998: p. 16).
Audience response/electronic voting systems
During my PGCertHE in 2009 I used an audience response system and wrote an essay on the technology and its effectiveness. I wrote up this essay for MSOR Connections (10(1): pp. 3-5). I took this experience to my learning technology role at Nottingham and encouraged and trained a lecturer to use an audience response system during 2009/10. A colleague, Sally Barton, and I evaluated the students' use of the audience response system and took our findings to the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics Summer Conference 2010 at University of Nottingham and CETL-MSOR Conference 2010 at University of Birmingham. A paper based on this was published in the peer-reviewed CETL-MSOR 2010 conference proceedings (pp. 12-22). At the CETL-MSOR Conference in September 2011 at Coventry University a group of Nottingham undergraduate students, contributing a student view to a session on student engagement, cited the use of this technology by the lecturer at Nottingham as an exemplar.
Art Gallery Problems and graduate skills
During my PGCertHE in 2009 I taught a graduate skills module at Nottingham Trent University using a topic in combinatorial geometry called 'art gallery problems'. I read literature on skills and group project work, designed an appropriate task and evaluated this. I took my evaluation to CETL-MSOR Conference 2009 at Open University, the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics Autumn Conference 2009 at University of Leicester and the Nottingham Trent University Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2010 'Developing students as scholars'. I wrote up my experience for the Nottingham Trent University ALTC 2010 conference proceedings (pp. 12-14) and for 'Developing Graduate Skills in HE Mathematics Programmes - Case studies of successful practice' (editor: Jeff Waldock; pp. 30-31). I have since repeated my CETL-MSOR 2009 talk at graduate skills workshops at the universities: Sheffield Hallam, York, Manchester Metropolitan, Birmingham, Bath and Greenwich.
Chalk and talk, interactive whiteboards and tablet PCs
During my PGCertHE in 2008 I began experimenting with interactive whiteboards and tablet PCs. I believe this technology has a lot to offer as a way to deliver mathematics classes and has potential in terms of integrating software into lectures and allowing for recording of lectures. I have given the following talks on this topic: on interactive whiteboards to ELMS seminar series at NTU, 2008 (video available online); on integrating software into lectures to an MSOR workshop at University of Nottingham, 2010; on using technology in teaching at Young Researchers in Mathematics 2011 Conference at University of Warwick (video available online); on effectiveness of lecture recordings at the First Media Enhanced Teaching and Learning (METAL) Workshop at University of Nottingham, 2011 (video available online); and, on making lectures more interactive at the Third Media Enhanced Teaching and Learning (METAL) Workshop at University of Nottingham, 2012.
Accessing Maths, Stats and OR
An HEA Subject Centre mini-project conducted with Emma Rowlett included research into issues surrounding access to mathematical content by students with visual impairments. This research was presented at the CETL-MSOR Conference 2008 at Lancaster University and the Higher Education Mathematics Education Conference 2008 at Loughborough University. Also as part of the research project, we ran a 'hands-on' workshop at the CETL-MSOR Conference 2009 at Open University, giving staff the chance to experience simulations of the issues experienced, and I chaired a one-day workshop on visual impairment in MSOR at NTU in December 2009 to present our project findings and those of others doing complementary research. This work was written up in multiple articles in MSOR Connections (6(4), pp. 24-26; 8(4), p. 42; 9(4), pp. 43-46).
Grant income
I have not been employed in a position where I have been able to bid directly for grant funding, indeed in my roles at the IMA and MSOR (2008-present) I have been distributing funding (approx. £250k), but prior to this I took the initiative on two occasions to bid for funding for specific projects not connected to my employment, which were both operated through Nottingham Trent University.
Mini-project 'Accessibility in MSOR: LaTeX and Braille', £5,000, MSOR Network, October 2007.
'E-Learning in Mathematical Subjects (ELMS) seminar series', £600, IMA, August 2006.