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This is a draft of the presentation that will be given at the HEA Social Sciences annual conference - Teaching forward: the future of the Social Sciences. For further details of the conference: http://bit.ly/1cRDx0p Bookings open until 14 May 2014 http://bit.ly/1hzCMLR or [email protected] Part of the 'Apocalypse Now' conference theme, which requires the presenter to imagine their own future world scenario. IMAGINED WORLD Quantitative methodologies are becoming increasingly important in the world of social sciences. The availability and accessibility of datasets of all kinds is growing at a phenomenal rate. For many academics in social sciences this is not a welcome development. For some it is a philosophical question about the value of different paradigms. For others, it is a more personal reason – they do not feel confident using quantitative methods. The 2012 RSA report “Solving the maths problem” highlighted this in its key findings “English universities are side-lining quantitative and mathematical content because students and staff lack the requisite confidence and ability” (our emphasis). However, it is seems clear that what might be termed “the march of quants” is gaining unstoppable momentum. Some might not like it, but it is a fact of life that quantitative approaches are becoming a necessity in most social science disciplines. In the face of this irresistible change, burying one’s head in the sand is not a particularly productive option. Accepting the inevitable and “going with the flow” are more likely to produce positive outcomes. This paper will point to ways in which this might be achieved. ABSTRACT This paper will outline how mathematics support has grown over the last 20 years from a focus almost exclusively on working with students from STEM disciplines to its current manifestation of supporting students from a wide range of disciplines, including many in the social sciences. Mathematics support is one mechanism by which universities are attempting to facilitate the transition into an increasingly numerate world for those who have not studied mathematics since GCSE, many of whom made a positive decision to avoid the subject in the future.
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Quants: nirvana or nightmare ?
Ruth Fairclough (University of Wolverhampton) Duncan Lawson (Newman University) Tony CroC (Loughborough University)
Outline
• Increasing quanHficaHon • “The maths problem in the UK” • The role of mathemaHcs support • The sigma network • Freely available resources • InteracHve session: discuss your own needs • How could sigma evolve to help your students ?
Increasing quanHficaHon (STEM) • It has always been the case that students in STEM disciplines needed a good foundaHon in mathemaHcs. Over the last 20 years or so this has become parHcularly problemaHc: In 2006, the Royal Society argued that the gap between the mathema;cal skills of students when they entered HE and the mathema;cal skills needed
for STEM first degrees was a problem which had become acute. … The evidence we received suggested that the problem remains.
House of Lords Select CommiVee on Science and Technology report Higher Educa;on in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathema;cs (STEM)
subjects (2012).
Increasing quanHficaHon (BioSci)
• As bioscience becomes increasingly quan;ta;ve, there is also an urgent need to raise the mathema;cal and computa;onal skills of biologists at all levels.
Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council The Age of Bioscience: Strategic Plan 2010-‐2015
hVp://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/FILES/PublicaHons/strategic_plan_2010-‐2015.pdf
Increasing quanHficaHon (SocSci)
• The UK is weak in quan;ta;ve skills, in par;cular but not exclusively in the social sciences and humani;es…. another reason for the poor skills of undergraduates is the dearth of academic staff able to teach quan;ta;ve methods
BriHsh Academy posiHon statement Society Counts: QuanHtaHve Skills in the Social Sciences and
HumaniHes (2012) hVp://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/Society_Counts.cfm
The “maths problem” in the UK
The “maths problem” in the UK
• We es;mate that of those entering higher educa;on in any year, some 330,000 would benefit from recent experience of studying some mathema;cs (including sta;s;cs) at a level beyond GCSE.
• At the moment fewer than 125,000 have done so. ACME – Advisory CommiVee on MathemaHcs EducaHon – June 2011
So what is mathemaHcs support ? • acHviHes and resources provided to support and enhance
students’ learning of mathemaHcs and staHsHcs, in any discipline, at any level of higher educaHon and which are provided in addiHon to tradiHonal lectures, tutorials, examples classes, personal tutorial sessions….
• Non-‐judgmental, informal, not credit-‐bearing
• Pleasant and non-‐threatening
• SupporHve
The role of mathemaHcs support
The one-‐to-‐one approach was essen;al as was the non-‐judgmental aWtude of the lecturer who took pains to explain what would no doubt have been ordinarily an elementary point with pa;ence and understanding.
sigma: network of pracHHoners • There is an established community of mathemaHcs support pracHHoners
• www.sigma-‐network.ac.uk • JISCmail list sigma-‐network • Quarterly newsleVer • One of the most open, friendly and welcoming academic communiHes you will experience
• free maths and stats support resources
17 January 2014
Chetna Patel (Sheffield)
David Bowers (University Campus Suffolk)
Noel Anne Bradshaw (Greenwich)
Leslie Fletcher (LJMU)
Emma Cliffe (Bath)
Ruth Fairclough (Wolverhampton)
Tapping into resources: statstutor
Tapping into resources: mathcentre
Reflect on your own students’ needs
• Do you come across students who need to develop beVer maths skills ?
• Do some of your students choose quanHtaHve project work ?
• What about when they start looking for jobs ? What sort of jobs do they do ?
• How could sigma evolve to help your students ?
Keep in touch
• Join the JISCmail list • Subscribe to sigma newsleVer • AVend CETL-‐MSOR conference 8/9 September 2014, Cardiff
• Take advantage of mathcentre community project for resource sharing
17 January 2014
