Previous seminars
Swan Delta 2019: Reflections of Change
Paul Fijn, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
This seminar highlighted some of the ideas, innovations, challenges and research presented at the Swan Delta conference, and how Paul intended to incorporate some of these elements into his teaching. Some key themes explored included interdisciplinarity, effective use of technology and evaluation of educational changes.
The slides from Paul's seminar are available here.
Taking the aaarrrggghhh out of teaching statistics with R: Using R Markdown
Sue Finch, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
This seminar discussed the various challenges posed by different software packages in teaching Statistics and by R in particular, and described a structured innovation designed to foster the right pedagogical goals, using R Markdown (including providing exercises and solutions). It presented feedback from participants in a trial course and outlined what was successful, and some possible improvements.
Getting ready for the new Canvas LMS - a report on the Semester 2 pilot subjects
John Banks and Lawrence Reeves, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
The University's LMS migrated from Blackboard to Canvas for all subjects in 2020. Three Mathematics and Statistics subjects used Canvas in Semester 2 2019 and this seminar was a report on those pilots.
WebWork - What worked?
Tom Wong, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
This seminar reported on a pilot of the online homework system WebWork in the first year subject Introduction to Mathematics (MAST10012). It also considered suggestions of what could be improved next time and things to consider if implemented in other subjects.
Making assessment part of active ongoing learning
Jen Palisse, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
This workshop explored alternate assessment methods to allow students to take more ownership of their learning. The main example was a high school level exercise concerning the introduction of index laws in Year 8 where students had to generate the index laws for themselves before proceeding with further exercises to reinforce the rules. This approach aims to give students ownership of their own learning as the mathematics that they are using is their mathematics, not the teacher's.
WebWork: An exploration in implementing an online homework system
Thomas Wong, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
This seminar explored the idea and feasibility of using an online homework system (WebWork) to complement the existing assignment system. WebWork has been used to partially automate assignments in pre-calculus algebra, single and multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, discrete mathematics, probability, statistics, and complex analysis.
Origami in mathematics education: from Kindergarten to Graduate school
Michael Assis, School of Mathematics of Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Presented relevant resources and many practical applications for the inclusion of origami in teaching at all levels of mathematics education.
Using Class OneNote as a teaching/learning tool in small to mid-sized classes
Alysson Costa, School of Mathematics of Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Reported on the comprehensive use of OneNote for lectures/assignments/tutorials/discussions as trialled in a third year subject.
Interactive activities to engage a large introductory statistics class
Sharon Gunn and Anthony Morphett, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Presented a suite of interactive activities to engage students with statistical concepts.
CALC 101 - A survival guide for first year lecturers
Thomas Wong, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Reported on two techniques to assist first year teaching - a LaTeX typesetting requirement for assignment submissions and the use of an online forum for students to promote student interaction.
Wolfram computing tools in primary, secondary and tertiary education
Craig Bauling, Wolfram Technologies
The Inaugural Seminar in this series was held in November 2016 and concerned the introduction of Mathematica tools into primary and secondary school teaching in Victoria.