1. Dr Vivien Easson more maths grads East London
Promoting maths
Dr Vivien Easson
more maths grads
East London

2. Aims of the project Improving students’ perception of maths
Changing the ways that schools, colleges and universities interact
Helping students find out about options
Raising awareness of the importance of maths, its role in careers, and its links to other subjects
Encouraging under-represented groups
Increasing the number applying to take maths further (to A-level or degree)

3. London East region Based at Queen Mary University of London
Working in four London boroughs
Barking and Dagenham
Hackney
Newham
Tower Hamlets

4. Maths at Queen Mary: 1
Situated in East London, one mile east of the City
Had an increase in numbers of undergraduates by 60-70% from
Current goal is to improve quality while maintaining numbers (operating at or just above capacity)

5. Maths at Queen Mary: 2
In 2006/07 the School had 666 undergraduates, with
18% Indian
17% White (combined)
14% Chinese
14% Pakistani
12% Bangladeshi
11% Asian (other)
6% Black African
8% other / refused to say

6. Full time undergraduates, UK
Figures from HESA
Steady increase in maths
Steady decline in statistics

7. The perception challenge
“mathematics is perceived by many students as being hard, boring, not relevant to their future and not leading to employment”
Smith Report (2004)
QCA (2006)

8. Our team at Queen Mary Vivien Easson (maths subject)
Zia Rahman (maths careers)
Jenny Allam (admin)
Supported by staff, postgrads and undergrads in the School of Mathematical Sciences
(low time-commitment!)

9. Five different types of obstacles
Many school pupils in East London speak a language other than English at home
Parents may not be confident in maths
Pupils may have little idea how technology, culture or other subjects depend on maths
Careers advice is often weak
Mathematics department facilities at some universities may lag behind other departments and business premises

10. Possible approaches
Language barriers / parental skills: work with Ocean Maths Project who specialise in getting parents involved
Provide alternative role models through use of SEAs and student ambassadors
Find ways of connecting maths to a wide variety of applications and of getting this message into the classrooms
Help departments campaign for better facilities

11. 32 events delivered so far…
Putting together careers info and supplementing the work done by the maths/physics outreach officer at Queen Mary
Finding ways to enrich the maths curriculum which engage more than just the top 5%

12. Sample activity: Air Miles
Curriculum: travelling salesman problem
Found in AQA and Edexcel Decision Maths modules in AS/A-level but also accessible at GCSE
Takes minutes

13. What’s the Point of…?
In the London region we’re starting to produce this series of leaflets
Aiming to cover many topics in KS4/KS5
Will be available to download and print out for free from the web

14. The technology gap
Interactive whiteboards are standard in schools, though some are not fully used
The two main sixth form colleges in Hackney and Tower Hamlets have plasma screens displaying the day’s main events

15. Keeping up with the engineers
Professional engineering bodies like the Institute of Mechanical Engineers have been involved in outreach for years
Maths has had a lot of outreach work, but generally by individual volunteers
This project is a positive step because it provides funding for full-time workers in addition to universities’ own officers