Speaker
Rod Bond
the Further Mathematics network
www.fmnetwork.org.uk
Further Mathematics Network
Centre Manager
for
North Leicestershire and South
Nottinghamshire
based at
The Mathematics Education Centre
Loughborough University
Speaker’s background
„
„
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the Further Mathematics network
www.fmnetwork.org.uk
Presentation Title
10 years in industry working as a Mechanical
and Production Engineer
Over 30 years experience as a teacher of
Mathematics in secondary schools
17 years experience as a Head of
Department in a 14-18 comprehensive upper
school
Using Industry, Commerce
and the Community to
motivate KS4/5 students to
take an interest in Mathematics
Maths at Work Conference
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The North Leicestershire/South Nottinghamshire
Further Mathematics Centres are working on
three developments:
‰
“Maths at Work” conferences
‰
“I am an Engineer – this is what I do” conferences
‰
Using Heritage Sites to show how Mathematics
has developed (this relates to a project at the
Snibston Discovery Park near Leicester)
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Brief
This conference is aimed at Year 11 able
mathematicians who are unsure regarding the
selection of A/S Mathematics for their sixth
form studies. It is intended that it will be
especially useful to those students who come
from family backgrounds where university
education has not been experienced. It will
be an opportunity to find out more about the
worth of the subject and how continued study
may lead to satisfying and rewarding
employment / career opportunities.
Maths at Work Conference
Maths at Work Conference
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Objective
To encourage more young people to study
A Level Mathematics and thereafter to go on
to enrol on Mathematics related courses at
university. It is intended that it will be of great
use as a Widening Participation activity.
Monday 18 June 2007
Venue
The Law and Social Sciences Building
The University of Nottingham
University Park Nottingham
Numbers
Year 10 students in schools
100 students – 20 schools will be
invited to send 5 students each – plus
interested staff.
Maths at Work Conference
Typical Programme
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Typical Speakers
Steve St-Gallay
Computational Chemist, AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood, Loughborough
Angela Dean
Predictive Services Engineer, Bombardier Transportation UK, Derby
Nick Harrington
Planning Manager, Laing O’Rourke, Nottingham
Michael Keeton and Kathryn Boettcher
Fraud and Credit Abuse Analysts, Capital One, Nottingham
9.00-9.30
9.30
10.30
10.45
11.45
12.15
13.15
14.15
14.30
15.30–15.45
Maths at Work Conference
Registration/Welcome/Introduction
Session 1
Break (drinks provided)
Session 2
Lunch (visitors to bring a packed lunch )
Tour of campus – group sizes 10/12
Session 3
Break (drinks provided)
Session 4
Plenary session and concluding remarks
Maths at Work Conference
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Date
Target
Audience
Maths at Work Conference
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Typical target audience and venue
Speakers – key issues
Obtaining Speakers
Speakers have been obtained using three main
sources:
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What they intend to do
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How they will do it:
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SETPOINT
Training organisations, e.g. Construction Skills
Contacts with local companies
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Well structured presentation important
An interactive approach is essential
Pitching the presentation at the correct level:
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Presenters need to be made aware of the participating
students’ current mathematical abilities
Maths at Work Conference
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Working with speakers
It is essential that the Conference Organisers
meet with the speakers prior to the event to:
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Give them a draft programme of the day
Outline the aims of the event
Discuss the target audience
Discuss styles of presentation – an interactive
approach essential
Reassure them that it will be a super, most enjoyable
day
Maths at Work Conference
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Working with speakers after the event
It is essential to:
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Communicate an expression of thanks
Provide a report of the event for them – this is
useful to some speakers to help justify to their
managers the time spent out of the company
Maths at Work Conference
Maths at Work Conference
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Student feedback – favourite sessions
Student feedback on suitability of the venue
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It was good as it was at a university.
It was a bit warm.
It was a nice setting.
Very pretty to look at.
It gave us an insight into university life.
Amazing.
Maths at Work Conference
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Student feedback – what have you learned from
the day?
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Maths at Work Conference
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That Maths is connected to lots of things and plays a very
important role in everyday life.
Maths can give you a lot of opportunities in the future.
To shred my personal details to prevent identity fraud
How maths benefits you in getting a job.
The value of taking Maths at A level.
That Maths is not so boring after all.
Maths is hard and still quite boring.
You can’t get anywhere without Maths.
That I want to do Maths for my A levels
Maths at Work Conference
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It gave me background knowledge to use as examples in
lessons to explain applications of Maths.
As a teacher who went to school then Uni then into
teaching it has been very interesting to see how my
subject is used in other careers.
The teachers appreciated the interactive nature of the
sessions and the efforts made by the presenters to have a
good balance between talk and ‘hands on’. The use of
visual images i.e. video clips was also praised.
Student feedback – would you recommend a
day like this to your friends?
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Yes
No
91%
9%
Maths at Work Conference
Teacher feedback
The teachers’ responses were very positive and they
appeared to have learned much from the day with comments
such as:-
The science guy who studies drugs, because people
wore funny shades and we got free Frisbees.
The Fraudbusters, because they kept it interesting and
it related well to Maths.
I want to work with aeroplanes. It was good to find out
from Angela why the train broke down and what Maths
is used to prevent this.
Fraud credit card thing, because there was coordinate
geometry and nice guys.
Nick the construction man, as he is cool and he made it
interesting.
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Funding
These events are organised with a minimal
budget and require support and goodwill of
many parties.
Maths at Work Conference
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Funding
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Schools – finance teachers to accompany students and
arrange transport from school
University Widening Participation offices- provide rooms,
break time drinks and pay for undergraduate helpers
Industry/commerce – pay for employees to attend
Further Mathematics Centres – pay for lunches for
presenters, guests and undergraduate helpers, travelling
expenses for speakers if they choose to claim,
reprographics. There is a considerable time commitment
by the Centre Manager for organisation of the event which
also involves travelling expenses.
Presenters from
Industry/Commerce
They are:
professional
listeners
„flexible
„reliable and punctual
„very well prepared
„good communicators
„very pleasant and caring when working
with young people
Maths at Work Conference
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Until recently we made no charge to students for
attending the events. From a Widening Participation
perspective we did not wish to deter attendance by
students from low income backgrounds on the basis of
their inability to pay. Because some schools booked
places and then did not attend we have now introduced
a charge of £5 per student per event, which is paid in
advance (accompanying teachers are admitted free of
charge). This has proved to be a successful strategy.
The funds are shared with the host organisation.
Schools/Colleges
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„very
„good
Schools/Colleges
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Much depends upon key members of staff
promoting events to students.
Once schools/colleges have decided what
they want in order to promote the STEM
subjects and others then they must commit
themselves fully to supporting the events
organised in response to their needs.
Funding
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Management in Schools and Colleges must decide
what activities they would like in order to enthuse
and interest young people in their study of
Mathematics.
Some schools/colleges are very supportive and
work well with us to provide engaging student
activities.
Other schools/colleges have difficulties relating to
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releasing staff to attend events
releasing students to attend events
getting students/staff to venues on time
Question
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Question to a group of bright Year 12 A Level
Mathematics students
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“What does an engineer do?”
I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
Answer
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Best answer was
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“HE is a person who mends cars.”
Objective
To provide opportunities for young people to learn
more about the diverse nature of engineering and
to encourage them to consider engineering as a
career via a university course.
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I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
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Organisation
The organisation associated with these
conferences is very similar to that of the
Maths at Work conferences.
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Models of delivery
Two distinct models have been trialled.
I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
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Model 1 Programme
09.45
10.15
12.00
13.30
15.15
16.00
Registration, welcome and introduction
Session 1 - Groups A and B to activities 1 and 2
Lunch, tour of campus, Mathematics quiz
Session 2 – Groups B and A to activities 1 and 2
Plenary session
Close
Activity 1 – Manufacturing Engineering (Digital Manufacturing,
Laser Engineering and Metrology)
Activity 2 – Electrical Engineering (producing a solar powered
vehicle)
An interest in engineering will automatically mean that
students will need to include Mathematics and
hopefully Further Mathematics in their Post-16 studies.
It is intended that this will be of great use as a
Widening Participation activity.
I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
„
Model 1
Conference organised by university academic
staff and postgraduate students based upon
the recruitment needs of a university. The
trial involved two departments at a university
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Electrical Engineering
Manufacturing Engineering
I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
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Model 2
Conference organised by the Further Mathematics
Centre Managers which use speakers from
industry to cover a wider range of disciplines
(similar to the Maths at Work conferences).
These were:
‰ Electrical Engineering
‰ Mechanical Engineering
‰ Civil/Structural Engineering
‰ Environmental Engineering
I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
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I am an Engineer –
this is what I do Conference
Model 2 Speakers
Brian Newsome
& Lynda Alwood
Former Research Officer )
Former Research Officer ) Powergen/CEGB
Chris Robbins
& Claire Sedgewick
Consultant Engineer, Grallator
Student Ambassador, The Dept of Civil Engineering,
The University of Sheffield
Nigel Stephenson
& Emma Watson
Technical Manager
Stress Engineer
Rik Stewart
& Jolene Costello
Senior Design Engineer
) Jacobs,
Senior Engineer, Transport and Development) Nottm.
)
) Rolls Royce, Derby
Model 2 Programme
9.00
9.30
10.30
10.45
11.45
12.15
13.15
14.15
14.30
15.30
Registration/Welcome/Introduction
Session 1
Break (drinks provided )
Session 2
Lunch (visitors to bring a packed lunch) + Maths Quiz
Tour of campus – group sizes 10/12
Session 3
Break (drinks provided )
Session 4
Plenary session and closing remarks
Using Heritage Sites
to promote Mathematics
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We are working with the Education
Department at Snibston Discovery Park,
Coalville, Leicestershire, to investigate how
enhancement activities can take place at this
venue. We have received a grant of £8000
from the School of Mathematics at
Loughborough University to fund the work. In
addition Snibston pledged £2000.
Snibston Discovery Park,
Coalville, Leicestershire
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Aims
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To enthuse young people about Mathematics and to illustrate how it
can be used in ideas relating to science, technology and engineering
using the exhibits in the Discovery Park.
To enthuse and inform students about the work of scientists and
engineers and show them many applications to be found in the
Discovery Park.
To encourage more KS3 and above students to visit Snibston
Discovery Park
To encourage more students to study A level Mathematics and
Further Mathematics.
To encourage more young people to train to be mathematicians,
scientists and engineers by applying for courses in further and higher
education or appropriate training opportunities in employment.
Snibston Discovery Park
Mechanics in Action
Students attended two of three sessions organised for
the day. The sessions were:Designing and building a solar powered car – a session
organised by staff and students from the School of
Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Loughborough
University.
Mechanics via practical hands-on experiments – a
session organised by Barbara Rundle, Further
Mathematics Manager based at the Mathematics
Education Centre, Loughborough University.
Mechanics in Industry – a session organised by staff
from Slack and Parr Ltd, Kegworth. This session will
deal with applications found in the manufacturing
workplace.
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Snibston Discovery Park
I am a Scientist – this is what I do
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Students attended three sessions organised for
the day. These were:The Montserrat Volcano Experience– a session
organised by staff from the British Geological
Survey, Keyworth, Notts led by Lee Jones and
Helen Taylor.
Chemistry Counts – a session organised by Dr
Sandie Dann and postgraduate Chemistry
students from Loughborough University.
Materials World – a session organised by
Professor Jon Binner and postgraduate students
from the Department of Materials, Loughborough
University.
Snibston Discovery Park,
Coalville, Leicestershire
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Activities completed are:
Mechanics in Action
Mathematics and Sport
I am a Scientist – this is what I do
‰ Student target age for each:- KS3 or KS4
‰ Number of students
60
Maths at Work Conference
‰ Student target age:
KS4
‰ Number of students
100
Snibston Discovery Park
Mathematics and Sport
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Students attended three sessions organised for
the day. These were:Mathematics, Twists and Turns – a session led by
Professor Fred Yeadon and his Biomechanics
Team, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences
from Loughborough University.
Tackling Maths – a session organised by Geraint
Davies, Rugby Coach Development Officer
(BOOST Project) from Loughborough University.
The Hidden Mathematics of Sport – a session led
by Dr David James, Senior Sports Engineer from
Sheffield Hallam University.
Snibston Discovery Park
Mathematics at Work
Workshop leaders came from the following
companies:
„ Rolls Royce, Derby
„ Jacobs, Nottingham
„ 3M Healthcare, Loughborough
„ Alstec, Leicester
Conclusions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The interaction between students, teachers and
industrialists has resulted in greater awareness
regarding the application of Mathematics within the
world of work.
The enthusiasm, preparation, delivery and professional
manner of the presenters from industry has been
impressive, however dialogue between organisers and
presenters is essential prior to the event to ensure that
appropriate presentations are made.
The Widening Participation departments at universities
provide excellent support for collaborative events.
SETPOINT, Construction Skills and local companies
can be approached to recommend speakers.
The activities have proved to be most enjoyable and
fun.
Contact details
If you wish to discuss any points raised in this
presentation please contact:
„
Rod Bond
Further Mathematics Network Centre Manager
Mathematics Education Centre
Schofield Building
Loughborough University
LE11 3TU
e-mail:
rodbond@fmnetwork.org.uk
or
r.m.bond@lboro.ac.uk
Tel:
01509 - 222867
The Future
It is difficult to fully assess the value of events such as
those outlined in this presentation.
I suggest that we seek funding to carry out a large scale
programme of such events as part of a research study
whereby we can fully evaluate their effectiveness and
document recommendations for participating bodies.
The study could be directed by a management team
consisting of representatives from schools and colleges,
industry and commerce, universities, national training
organisations and professional institutions.