Enhancing the students
experience in mathematics
through the use of a project
Susan Worsley
srw@maths.uq.edu.au
Dr Katrina Hibberd, Dr Barbara Maenhaut
Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Context
Topics
Setup
Assessment
Outcomes
Questionnaire results
Conclusion
Context
Students in the class
We introduced the project to:
 Explore a relevant mathematics topic
 Experience the interdisciplinary nature of
mathematics
 Improve communication
 Develop research skills
Topics
 Nuclear
energy waste
 Dynamic response of structure
 Carbon offset schemes
 Magic squares
 Mendelian genetics
 RSA cryptography
 Fibonacci
 Tsunamis
Tsunamis
1.
2.


What happens to tsunamis as they head
towards land?
What systems are in place to warn us
when we are in danger of a tsunami.
Explanation
Suggested reference e.g Australian
Bureau of Meteorology
Joel MacGrath, James Mahoney, Chris Farrell
Setup





Project starts second
week of lectures
Four weeks to
complete
Groups of size 3 or 4
Topic and poster
production
10% of final mark,
pass/fail grade
Assessment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Progression to midway
Production of a poster
Peer assessment
Individual summary
Questionnaire
Progression sheet
 Form
a group
 Register topic
 Allocate tasks
 First group meeting held
Poster Presentation
 Relevant
Content
 Logically organised, visually appealing,
neatly displayed and well written
 Two to three minute presentation in tutorial
classes
Peer Assessment
Category
Comments
Content
Well researched, correct,
interesting
Appealing, clear, good
layout
Well written, correct spelling
and referencing
Helpful comments, useful
feedback
Layout/appearance
Grammar and
referencing
Other
Individual Summary
 Each
student summarises their topic
 Between 200 to 300 words
 Well written
 Students own work  submitted to
‘turnitin’ in Blackboard
Questionnaires
Multiple choice and short answers
Students
 Experience of the project
Tutors
Evaluating the marking of the
assessment
Tutorial Setting
Typical
Problem sheet  little class interaction
With project
Group work  Social interaction
 Peer assisted learning
 Dynamic environment
Outcomes
 Groups
 Topics
 Poster
Presentation
 Individual Summary
Questionnaire
(student)
 53%
of students developed more interest
in the project than they expected
 68% increased their understanding on how
mathematics relates to other disciplines
 82% learned to effectively interact with
other group members
 34% were inspired to continue further
studies in mathematics
Questionnaire
(tutor)
 70%
of students continued to work in
groups in the tutorial
 60% of posters were of a high or very high
standard
 90% said it was not difficult to organise
students into groups
 70% found marking the progression sheet,
poster presentation and peer assessment
simple
Conclusions
We introduced this assessment to
develop the following skills
 Communication
 Team work
 Research
Result - complete change in tutorial class
dynamics
Comments from Students
‘I thought the group topic worked well as one
of the first assessment pieces of the
semester as it helped to reach out and
make contact with other people, which
may not have happened otherwise‘
‘Good exciting project’
‘Well I haven’t played with cardboard and
glue since primary school’
Chau Le, Same Ward, David Pascall, Ned Connolly
Natasha Ma, Jasmine Khan, Iain Fisher
Acknowledgement
This project was funded by the School of Physical Sciences teaching initiative