All posts tagged: Maths

Whoever wins, both parties have done the right maths on STEM

Whoever wins, both parties have done the right maths on STEM

Labour and the Conservatives are offering different policies, but have identified the same core problem for the next government to solve Labour and the Conservatives are offering different policies, but have identified the same core problem for the next government to solve Dr Jeffery Quaye National director of education and standards, Aspirations Academies Trust Dr Karen Skilling Associate professor Department of Education, University of Oxford 18 Mar 2024, 5:00 More from this theme Recent articles The Prime Minister’s ambition to reform post-16 education and ensure all pupils study mathematics until 18 has generated a lot of feedback, among which the most constructive is that the policy will require many more qualified mathematics teachers. Meanwhile, Labour have pledged to focus instead on a ‘phonics for maths’ programme aimed at younger pupils. Both policies should be welcomed, not only because both aim to see more pupils ultimately achieve better maths outcomes but because both parties have recognised a bigger problem: a culture of negative disposition towards the subject that is holding back whole groups of learners. Across …

How to close the maths and science ‘enjoyment gap’

How to close the maths and science ‘enjoyment gap’

New research reveals stark disparities in teenagers’ enjoyment of maths and science – a regional gap we must close to be a science superpower New research reveals stark disparities in teenagers’ enjoyment of maths and science – a regional gap we must close to be a science superpower David Thomas CEO, Axiom Maths 17 Mar 2024, 17:00 More from this theme Recent articles Today marks the end of British Science Week, a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) across the UK. But despite this being a nationwide event, new research has found a stark “enjoyment gap” between London and the rest of Britain when it comes to learning maths and science in school. A YouGov survey of more than 1,000 11-to-16-year-olds commissioned by Teach First found that 83 per cent of young people in London enjoy learning science compared to just 68 per cent outside of the capital. The gap is even wider for maths, with 79.5 per cent of London-based 11-to-16-year-olds enjoying the subject, against just 57 per cent of those …

Understanding how the brain works can transform how school students learn maths

Understanding how the brain works can transform how school students learn maths

School mathematics teaching is stuck in the past. An adult revisiting the school that they attended as a child would see only superficial changes from what they experienced themselves. Yes, in some schools they might see a room full of electronic tablets, or the teacher using a touch-sensitive, interactive whiteboard. But if we zoom in on the details – the tasks that students are actually being given to help them make sense of the subject – things have hardly changed at all. We’ve learnt a huge amount in recent years about cognitive science – how our brains work and how people learn most effectively. This understanding has the potential to revolutionise what teachers do in classrooms. But the design of mathematics teaching materials, such as textbooks, has benefited very little from this knowledge. Some of this knowledge is counter-intuitive, and therefore unlikely to be applied unless done so deliberately. What learners prefer to experience, and what teachers think is likely to be most effective, often isn’t what will help the most. For example, cognitive science …

Pythagoras was wrong about the maths behind pleasant music

Pythagoras was wrong about the maths behind pleasant music

Pythagoras has influenced Western music for millennia Bilwissedition Ltd/Alamy An ancient Greek belief about the most pleasing combinations of musical notes – often attributed to the philosopher Pythagoras – doesn’t actually reflect the way people around the world appreciate harmony, researchers have found. Instead, Pythagoras’s mathematical arguments may merely have been taken as fact and used to assert the superiority of Western culture. According to legend, Pythagoras found that the ringing sounds of a blacksmith’s hammers sounded most pleasant, or… Source link

How the maths behind honeycombs can help you work a jigsaw puzzle

How the maths behind honeycombs can help you work a jigsaw puzzle

Dariusz Szwangruber/Alamy WHAT do a bathroom wall, a honeycomb and a jigsaw puzzle have in common? Obviously, the answer is mathematics. If you are trying to cover a surface with copies of a shape – say, for example, you are tiling a bathroom – you ideally want a shape like a square or rectangle. They will cover the whole surface with no gaps, which is why these boring shapes get used as wall tiles so often. But if your shapes don’t fit together exactly, you can still try to get the best coverage possible by arranging them in an efficient way. Imagine trying to… Source link

GCSE English and maths resits get minimum teaching hours

GCSE English and maths resits get minimum teaching hours

Teach maths resit students for at least 4 hours a week and English for 3 or face funding reduction, sixth forms warned Teach maths resit students for at least 4 hours a week and English for 3 or face funding reduction, sixth forms warned More from this theme Recent articles Sixth forms will have to teach pupils who failed their English and maths GCSE for a minimum of three to four hours a week or risk losing funding, the government has said. The divisive “condition of funding” policy, introduced in 2014, means schools and colleges must help students who failed to achieve a pass – grade 4 or above – to retake their GCSEs, or else risk losing funding. Department for Education rules did not previously stipulate a minimum number of teaching hours for resit students. But from September 2024, full-time resit students will be “expected” to study at least three hours per week for English and four hours for maths, with part-time students studying on a pro-rata basis. This study should be “stand-alone, whole-class, …

Oxford Brookes to cut staff as music and maths courses close

Oxford Brookes to cut staff as music and maths courses close

The vice-chancellor of Oxford Brookes University has shared the verdict from a series of cost saving proposals in response to rising financial pressures across the academic sector. Though the university offered a voluntary severance scheme before the festive break, it hasn’t been enough to achieve its required annual cost savings of £2 million, and a staff consultation period earlier this month ended with no satisfactory outcome. “A small number of staff will now progress into a compulsory redundancy process”, said Professor Alistair Fitt, vice-chancellor at Oxford Brookes. “While I deeply regret the need to make any reductions in staff numbers, and that compulsory redundancies cannot be avoided for all affected staff, I hope that this decision demonstrates our willingness to listen to feedback and to make adaptations to our approach which reduce the impact on staff wherever possible.” Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county Professor Fitt cited a range of external factors contributing to the position in which many universities like Oxford Brookes find themselves today – including inflation, …

We must stem the flow of young talent abandoning maths

We must stem the flow of young talent abandoning maths

Striking new research shows many promising young maths pupils give up on the subject soon after they start secondary, explains Kathryn Greenhalgh Striking new research shows many promising young maths pupils give up on the subject soon after they start secondary, explains Kathryn Greenhalgh Kathryn Greenhalgh Executive director of mathematics, Outwood Grange Academies Trust 16 Jan 2024, 5:00 More from this theme Recent articles Everything we do to help students understand maths, to prepare them for tough questions or even to learn to love maths counts. We hear calls in the national media for ‘more’ maths or to learn maths for longer, which could give the impression that nothing is improving, but the truth is that all the work being done across the mathematical landscape to improve maths outcomes is in fact adding up. Is it a tough subject? Yes it is, but it is vital for our students’ future life chances. Doors open, career routes emerge and opportunities to excel present themselves to those who can master maths, wherever they come from. And besides, …

GCSE maths re-sit pass rate lower than pre-pandemic

GCSE maths re-sit pass rate lower than pre-pandemic

But performance in English re-takes continues to rise But performance in English re-takes continues to rise More from this theme Recent articles The proportion of students passing GCSE re-sits in maths has fallen again this year and remains lower than pre-pandemic 2019. November entry results published by the Joint Council for Qualifications this morning shows 22.2 per cent of 17 to 19-year old maths re-sit entrants achieved a grade 4 or above in England, seen by the government as a standard pass. This is a decrease of 8 per cent on last year, when 24.2 per cent achieved at least a standard pass, and down 16 per cent on pre-pandemic 2019, when the pass rate was 26.4 per cent. However, the JCQ warned that “due to changing entry patterns and different assessment and grading arrangements over the last few years because of the pandemic, it is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between results this year and previous examination series”. It comes after prime minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to replace A-levels with a new …