Past Events

Date & Time: Thursday 30 July 2020, 12:00pm (AEST)

Speakers: Michael Donovan (Macquarie) and Judy-anne Osborn (Newcastle)

Title: Musings on what it might mean to Indigenise tertiary Mathematics curricula?

Abstract: We will present some of our journey as two people thinking about what it could mean to Indigenise tertiary Mathematics curricula. We have been working in this space separately and together for some time now, and part of this talk will be the story of steps towards building that partnership. We will share some of our learnings, whilst also welcoming input from the audience from their thoughts and experiences, because we know that there is more than one story here, and more than one way to work in this space.

Presenter Bio: Dr Michael Donovan is a member of the Gumbaynggirr Nation from the north coast of NSW and Academic Director of Indigenous Education at Macquarie University School of Education. He has been involved in Aboriginal education since 1992, working from schools through to University. He has lectured across a wide variety of Indigenous topics and primarily teaches pre-service teachers about working with Aboriginal students and human rights understandings when working with Aboriginal communities. Michael is a Life Member of the NSW AECG.

Presenter Bio: Dr Judy-anne Osborn is a researcher in Mathematics and Education in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Her educational interests and practice are multiply influenced by her experiences of mathematics as exploratory and creative, her personal rural heritage, her enjoyment of teaching and learning and her belief in mathematics as the rightful cultural heritage of all people.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/8i1uVa6CnY4l8ix

The Zoom chat transcript from the seminar is available here. Names have been removed.

Date & Time: Thursday 9 April, 2:00pm (AEST)

Speakers: Anthony Morphett (Melbourne), Melanie Robertson-Dean (UNE), Katherine Seaton (Latrobe)

Title: Online assessment and exams in mathematics & statistics

Abstract: To adapt to an entirely online teaching environment in the face of COVID-19, academics need to convert their assessment into forms that can be completed remotely. A particular challenge is to adapt summative written exams into an online form. In this session, we will describe some options for assessing written mathematics & statistics tasks in a remote learning environment, with particular emphasis on end-of-semester exams. This will include 'Zoom supervision' of open-book exams, remote proctoring, and the Gradescope system for submission and marking of exams. There will also be an open discussion of other approaches and technological platforms.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/znNpycx4hCMQ7QR

Date & Time: Friday 27 March 2020, 2:00pm (AEDT)

Speaker: Robert Maillardet (Melbourne)

Title: Transitioning urgently to online classes

Abstract:The School of Mathematics and Statistics services 7000+ undergraduate students with around 50 permanent lecturing and tutorial staff and 170 casual tutors active each semester. In response to Covid-19 we moved preemptively and early to get tools, infrastructure and training in place to convert to online delivery and just managed to stay ahead of the impending wave to have fully operational online classes in place very quickly. This presentation talks about the online tools we used and their application to our interactive online classes, and also shares perspectives on how to manage change through such a dynamic and fast changing situation.

This 90-minute seminar will also include an open discussion about moving to online lectures.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/EqydtP3cXp3tMoI
Note: this recording has been edited to remove personal information of participants. Some parts of the video have been intentionally blurred or blanked out.

Date & Time: Tuesday 25 February 2020, 12:00pm (AEDT)

Speakers: Celia Hoyles and Richard Noss (Institute of Education, University College London)

Title: Teaching Mathematics in 2020 and Beyond

Abstract: In this talk, we will present our personal view of the most critical issues facing Mathematics teaching and learning in 2020 and beyond.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/mm505Wjlq4ETVwz

Note: Anyone wanting to continue the discussion from this seminar is invited to contact Judy-anne Osborn, judy-anne.osborn@newcastle.edu.au

Date & Time: Tuesday 10 December 2019, 2:00pm (AEDT)

Speaker: Leesa Sidhu (UNSW ADFA)

Title: Teaching a compulsory maths course to Arts and Business students

Abstract: This seminar will discuss the design and implementation of a compulsory data analysis course for Arts and Business students at UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. The Rector of UNSW Canberra requested that this course be developed, in order to ensure that all graduates are exposed to key quantitative methods relevant to them in their military careers.

The course aims to teach students to use data to answer questions and make informed, objective decisions, to evaluate information, to reason logically and evaluate the reasoning of others, to understand the methods of data analysis and to apply appropriate techniques to analyse data. It focuses on understanding the concepts of statistics without overemphasizing the mathematical detail. The commonly available computer software package, Microsoft Excel, is used for data exploration, presentation and analysis.

The course is challenging to teach as the students have quite diverse backgrounds and many lack confidence or interest in mathematics. This seminar discusses ways in which the approach used in the course helps students to overcome mathematics anxiety and motivates them to engage with the course material, by establishing a supportive and encouraging classroom environment, catering for different approaches to learning, and making appropriate use of technology.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/Vx5EIztnjnpwDb2

Date & Time: Tuesday 24 September 2019, 1:00pm (AEST)

Speaker: Tim Moroney (QUT)

Title: Teaching first-year Computational Science with an emphasis on collaborative problem solving

Abstract: This talk will describe my experiences in designing and teaching a first-year unit in Computational Science at QUT. While many students commencing STEM degrees have significant experience with programming, others commence their studies with little to no programming experience, and often little appreciation for the importance of computation and simulation across the STEM disciplines. I will address some of the challenges in teaching a multidisciplinary cohort of Science, Information Technology, Mathematics and Engineering students with diverse backgrounds in programming and mathematics, and discuss some of the approaches taken in this unit, particularly regarding collaborative problem solving.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/HQSVuIFEnZqyKNX

Date & Time: Monday 19 August 2019, 1:00pm (AEST)

Speaker: Julia Polak (Melbourne)

Title: Kaggle-in-class Data Challenges Can Boost Student Learning

Abstract: Kaggle is a data modeling competition service, where participants compete to build a model with lower predictive error than other participants. Several years ago they released a reduced service that enables instructors to run competitions in a classroom setting. This paper describes the results of an experiment to determine if participating in a predictive modeling competition enhances learning. The evidence suggests it does. In addition, students were surveyed to examine if the competition improved engagement and interest in the class.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/Tm8EHW841nei9vq

Date & Time: Tuesday 6 August 2019, 1:00pm (AEST)

Speaker: Daniel Mansfield (UNSW)

Title: Teaching mathematics with online tools and an ancient Mauritanian fatwa on inheritance for hermaphrodites

Abstract: NUMBAS is a free, open source and highly versatile mathematics assessment package. At UNSW it has been used to create formative assessments that have improved student outcomes, and are highly regarded by the students themselves. This talk will give a brief overview of how NUMBAS is used at UNSW, followed by a demonstration of how to take advantage of the unique features of online teaching when writing a question. The question will be on first year permutations, but framed in the historical context of a real ancient Mauritanian fatwa on inheritance for hermaphrodites.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/b3gXtkbN0W5EBia

Date & Time: Wednesday 24 July 2019, 1:00pm (AEST) 

Speaker: Glen Wheeler (Wollongong) 

Title: A model for team research projects and a conference poster session for students transitioning to maths at university

Abstract: After a curriculum transformation, a new subject was created in the transition space from high-school to university for mathematics and cognate degrees. This new subject is compulsory and serves many purposes. The centrepiece event in the subject is a team poster presentation event at the end of the semester. Teams present not only their research project, but also individual projects that have been honed through two iterations earlier in the semester. These two iterations are partially anonymously peer-graded, and reflected upon as an assessment task. In this talk I will describe the current scaffolding, support and layering of assessment that facilitates teams in being able to present a research project at the end of semester. I will then use Brookfield’s four critical reflective lenses to analyse the process, and identify several open problems.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/DEKTJ3JurWHi804

Date & Time: Tuesday 27 November 2018, 2pm (AEDT – GMT+11)

Speaker: Katherine Seaton (Latrobe)

Title: Integrating integrity

Abstract: Mathematics tasks of the type assigned to undergraduates are overlooked in the academic integrity literature, and in much of the instructional material for students about misconduct. In this talk, I will present an overview of my forthcoming e-book which begins to address this lack of specific and targeted information. In particular, I will discuss what mathematics can apply from the general scholarship, and from areas like computer science which have, by way of contrast, developed a large body of discipline-specific literature. I will then go on to present some of the 26 scenarios provided as on-line or in-class discussion starters in the book, which will be published as an open educational resource by La Trobe University’s e-Bureau early next year.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/p3s2vISdArHYWpF

Date & Time: Wednesday 8th August 2018, 1pm (AEDT – GMT+11)

Speaker: Dmitry Demskoy (Charles Sturt University)

Title: A method of creating automated formative assessment by means of computer algebra, LaTeX and PDF forms

Abstract: I will explain a method of creating maths/stats assessments using a computer algebra system (e.g. Maple) and show some examples of such assessments from the subjects I teach. The method requires some programming experience from the teaching staff, but allows creating individualised assessments that can also be automatically marked. I will explore the potential benefits of this method to both students and staff.

Seminar recording: https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/foAy4btnrf8cETh