MTH6110 - COMMUNICATING AND TEACHING MATHEMATICS: THE UNDERGRADUATE AMBASSADORS SCHEME - 2023/24
Topic outline
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The timetable for our module is organised for Week N in the table below; every week, we would like you doing some kind of reading, interacting, watching, reflecting, and writing. Below is a sample schedule for navigating the weekly work for this module:
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Placement prep Placement Research Review Week N-1
Prepare questions for Fri09:00-11:00 MTH6110 Session Reading Logbook Writing
CourseworkPDP Reflection Friday Video
Looking ahead Week N+1- Recordings of Discussion Sessions will not be available, as this module relies on your participation to work!
- You are expected to complete all Week N-1 content before our Fri session in Week N
- Office Hours are optional and are intended to provide you with an additional point of contact, support and feedback
- Recordings of Discussion Sessions will not be available, as this module relies on your participation to work!
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This module provides an opportunity for final-year students to gain first-hand experience of mathematics education, through a mentoring scheme with mathematics teachers in schools and colleges. The module is offered within the framework of the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme.
Students will typically begin by observing the teacher's handling of the class and progress from this classroom assistant stage through small teaching tasks to at least one opportunity to undertake whole class teaching. There may also be an opportunity to undertake and evaluate a special project on the basis of discussion with the teacher. In the process, students will gain valuable transferable skills that include communication and presentation of mathematics, team-working, active listening, time management and prioritisation. The module will be supported by regular classes and assessed by a combination of written reports and an oral presentation.
Registration for this module requires validation; places will be limited and interviews to assess suitability will be held during Semester A.
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During the UAS placement, the undergraduate students will be involved in the following broad areas of learning and teaching within the classroom:
- Classroom observation and assistance:
Initial contact will be made with the teacher and pupils as a classroom assistant. The student will watch how the teacher manages the learning environment, the lesson structure and the level their subject is taught to. Practical support will be offered to the teacher in the classroom or a lab. - Teaching assistance:
The teacher will assign teaching tasks to the student which vary depending on specific needs and the student's own ability as it develops over the placement. This could include offering problem-solving coaching to a small group of higher ability pupils or taking the last ten minutes of the lesson for the whole class. - Extra-curricular projects:
The student may help to run an out-of-timetable activity such as a club, or special coaching periods for higher ability pupils. - Special Projects:
The student may devise a special project on the basis of discussion with the teacher and their own assessment of the needs of the particular pupils they are working with. This aspect of the scheme may include whole class teaching for the student.
- Classroom observation and assistance:
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While there are no exams for this module, your mark is based on multiple submissions of different types, including video recordings, written work, and live presentations. Assignment briefings and Marking Schemes will be made available for your information in due course, so that you can get an idea of what is required for each submitted component prior to the deadline. In 2023-24, your module will be assessed as follows:
- CV - 10%
- Maths Video Presentation - 20%
- Research Article Essay - 20%
- Group Project - 20%
- Engagement - 20%
- Teacher Feedback - 10%
The Engagement mark is built from your participation in the module holistically, including completion of online quizzes, attendance and interaction in our Friday sessions (including professional behaviour if you need to miss a session), creation of a Personal Development Plan and submission of a Reflective Learning Logbook.
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Teacher Feedback comes in the form of a questionnaire, which is then used to form a mark for this module. Please note that mentor teachers may choose to leave some questions blank, as not all questions are applicable for all placements/classes. This is common and will not adversely affect your Teacher Feedback mark.
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Each participant serves as an ambassador of the School of Maths and represents QMUL serving as both a teaching assistant and role model in the local community. In light of these responsibilities and also the limited number of available opportunities, ultimate participation in this module is highly selective. Selection will be based on your interest and commitment to the module's aims, communication skills and aptitude for working in an educational environment, and academic record to date.
APPLICATION STEPS: Submitting your application will require that you do the following:
- Register for the module at the start of the autumn term. This is essential in order for you to receive correspondence regarding the application process and mandatory training. Please note that if your application for this module is not accepted you will have to change your registration to drop MTH6110 and add a different module in January.
- Submit an Application Form, describing your interest in the module
- Attend an interview with the Module Organisers (if shortlisted)
- Complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as part of your application (if selected)
Please note that you will not be regarded as finally accepted on the module until you have passed the interview stage, undergone the DBS check, attended the mandatory UAS Training day, and signed an agreement form with the school/College at which you have been placed. -
In order to be considered for the module, your application must be submitted below by 17:00 Tue 10 Oct 2023.
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Due to the high volume of applicants, interviews will take place virtually during Week 4 (18, 19 and 20 October) on Teams. Teams links for each interview block appear below. Please note the directions on entering/leaving this virtual interview room below.
If you have been selected for interview, please
- Select a 10-minute interview slot below, by 5pm Mon 16 October
- Prepare a 2-3 minute mock teaching session on a selected topic of your choice; this should involve explanation of some school-level maths (for any year you wish) which you can present to us in a video interview.
- You may also be asked questions related to your presentation or responses in your application form, as appropriate
To keep things running in time and avoid any possible tech issues, please do not use any additional equipment/hardware (e.g., tablet, pen, etc.). You are welcome to use powerpoint/pdf, visual props or simply speak with us as you deem appropriate for the topic you choose. If you do choose to use powerpoint/pdf, please make sure you know how to share your screen in advance of the interview.
- For the interview, please arrive 2-3 minutes early and "wait in the lobby" until you are admitted.
- If you do not see a lobby on your device, you can send a Teams chat to SB or ML, indicating that you have arrived.
- Please do not join the room until we have confirmed that the previous candidate has left.
We look forward to seeing you and wish you GOOD LUCK!
--SB and ML
- Select a 10-minute interview slot below, by 5pm Mon 16 October
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All applicants will be required to complete a DBS check; this is a legal requirement for working in a school; general information about DBS checks can be found via the Directgov website. The DBS check details will be given to you by email once you have been accepted onto the module.
- You may read the Guide for Applicants
to see what kind of information and identification documents you will be asked to provide; documentation for the paper form is provided to give you an idea of the
general procedure. Note that we will follow an online procedure which will also
have similar rules we will need to follow strictly.
- Your documents will need to be countersigned here in the School of Maths. Your identification will be checked and the forms submitted. You should then receive your DBS certificate through the post.
- Please note, it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete a DBS form and countersigned by the School Office and sent off in good time. It can take around anywhere between 2-6 weeks for DBS clearance to come through, and you will not be able to secure a place in a School without one.
- You may be asked by your Placement School/College to present your original issued DBS form to the relevant HR Department at the start of your placement.
DBS UPDATE: As in previous years, DBS checks will be completed virtually this year. If you are selected for this module, you will need to have your DBS check completed and confirmed with the Maths Office before the end of the January Assessment period (04-19 Jan 2024) in order to go out to your placements in Semester B. - You may read the Guide for Applicants
to see what kind of information and identification documents you will be asked to provide; documentation for the paper form is provided to give you an idea of the
general procedure. Note that we will follow an online procedure which will also
have similar rules we will need to follow strictly.
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It is very important that you participate actively in this module by staying on top of your work, asking questions and seeking feedback for your ideas continuously, both from us (your module organisers) and your mentor teachers!
Here are some avenues of support and feedback available to you:
- Ask questions during or after sessions with your mentor teachers,
- Participate actively in the workshop sessions with us and with guest speakers,
- Visit us in office hours/Learning Café hours for more personalised feedback (see Module Info block on the right),
- Query your peers and the lecturers (us!) using the student forum.
- Include questions in your submitted work (e.g. as footnotes)
Your feedback comes in many forms. It is not just written comments on a piece of coursework. Please make sure that you actively engage with all these opportunities, as they are there to help you learn and gain confidence in learning how to analyse pedagogy research, write essays as well as how to (better) teach mathematics!
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There will be a Induction Session for students accepted onto the module 13:00-15:00, Wed 06 Dec 2023 (Week 11 of Semester A), with details to be announced in due course. Attendance is required in order to participate in MTH6110.
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Read carefully pp. 1--7 of 'What makes great teaching?' by Coe et. al.
Identify the six components of great teaching appearing in the Executive Summary. Look carefully at the Contents page to understand the layout of this review article. You might also find it useful to peruse the References at the end for style, and find how these sources appear in the body of the work.
Think about your own answers to the following questions:
- What happens when you incorporate the words/phrases Mathematics, Mathematicians, in a Mathematics Classroom, into each of the six headings?
- Arrange the six components from most important to least. Do you think the order of importance changes if you add the words/phrases above?
- Are there any missing components, i.e., are these six the most important components of 'Great Mathematics Teaching' or did we miss anything?
- What happens when you incorporate the words/phrases Mathematics, Mathematicians, in a Mathematics Classroom, into each of the six headings?
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Read carefully pp. 8--24 of 'What makes great teaching?' by Coe et. al., the Introduction and first chapter, called What is good pedagogy? Elements of teaching effectiveness.
Here are some guidelines to help you read this assignment:
- The first citation is (Strong et al 2011; Hamre et al 2009). Do you know how to find and cite references like this? Do you know where you would look to find out?
- What makes this a well-written introduction? What could be done better?
- To self-check comprehension, try to write down a few brief summarizing sentences for each of the six subsections that appear in the first chapter.
- The first citation is (Strong et al 2011; Hamre et al 2009). Do you know how to find and cite references like this? Do you know where you would look to find out?
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Here is an editable word file of your Reflective Learning Logbook.
Over the course of your placement, you are expected to keep a log of the weekly activities you undertake with your Mentor Teacher and students. You can either print out further Weekly Log Entries to take with you and use when out on your placement, or you can type your observations in this file and update weekly.
You may occasionally need to refer to this or be asked to share your entries, so please do stay up to date with this task and bring your Log Book with you each week to our sessions.
This template is very close to the kind of logbook you would be expected to keep in a PGCE course and completing it well will help you to focus and achieve your PDP goals!
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Read carefully pp. 25--37 of 'What makes great teaching?' by Coe et. al., the second chapter, called How do we measure it? Frameworks for capturing teaching quality.
Below are some guidelines to help you read this assignment as well as practice writing for your first Critical Analysis Essay:
- Compare page 9 to page 25. Why might the authors have chosen to start the second chapter in a different manner than the first? Did this change help you read the section more easily?
- Check your basic comprehension by writing down exactly two sentences describing each of the seven methods of evaluation in this chapter (e.g., What are value-added measures and how are they used to evaluate teaching quality?)
- Now practice some "level 1" critical analysis by writing 2-3 bullet points on the benefits, impacts, risks and limitations of each method of evaluation.
- Compare page 9 to page 25. Why might the authors have chosen to start the second chapter in a different manner than the first? Did this change help you read the section more easily?
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The heading above is a link to the assessment guidelines and marking criteria that will be used to evaluate your CV.
If you have not already consulted the Maths Graduate Opportunities and Careers page or the QM Careers and Enterprise page for general guidance on choosing your career path, now is the perfect time! The CVs and Applications section may be useful for this particular assignment.
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Please submit your CV in pdf format by 17:00 Fri 09 Feb.
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Read carefully pp. 38--41 of 'What makes great teaching?' by Coe et. al., the third chapter, called How could this promote better learning?
This week, the notes below will guide you through are some guidelines to help you read this assignment as well as practice writing for your first Critical Analysis Essay:
- Check your basic comprehension by writing down exactly two
sentences describing each of the three subsections in this
chapter
- Practice critical analysis writing by writing exactly two sentences for each subsection on the benefits, impacts, risks and limitations and indicate which references you might follow to justify your conclusions
- Did you notice that the authors used effect size to justify a position on teacher feedback? Hint: see p.40
- Check your basic comprehension by writing down exactly two
sentences describing each of the three subsections in this
chapter
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Read carefully pp. 43--49 of 'What makes great teaching?' by Coe et. al., the fourth chapter, called How might we take this forward?
This week, the notes below aim to help you continue developing your analytical reading and writing skills; it also will help you reflect on how you might take the results of this review, moving forward.
- Check your basic comprehension by writing down exactly four
sentences describing the first subsection in this
chapter (Overview of the evidence)
- In reading the second subsection (A general framework for teaching quality), think back to your very first ordering of the six components of great teaching. Has your ordering changed based on what you have learned? Why/why not? Much of our discussion was based our impressions, which you can now substantiate; can you justify your position with research evidence now?
- The final subsection (Best bets to try out and evaluate) can be used when evaluating progress on your action plan. Are there any aspects of your aims/goals which might benefit from the approaches suggested in the quick wins list? How might you use what you have learned to become better at teaching OR communicating mathematics?
- Check your basic comprehension by writing down exactly four
sentences describing the first subsection in this
chapter (Overview of the evidence)
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Look through pp. 50--55 of 'What makes great teaching?' by Coe et. al., the Bibliography and read carefully pp. 56--57, the Appendix.
This week, the notes below aim to help you cycle back and practice learned skills from the first half of the module: searching for references (J. Soderman's talk), reading comprehension and concise summary writing (Reading Assignments, weeks 1-5).
- Choose 5 bibliography entries at random from the Reference list and search for them. Do you recover just the abstract or are you able to retrieve the full resource? Do you know what steps you would take to find the full source if you are not able to fully retrieve the reference?
- Read the research questions appearing in the Appendix and use your notes from the previous Reading Assignments to summarise the authors' conclusions for each in a few sentences. Some may need only 1-3 statements, whereas others may need more.
- Choose 5 bibliography entries at random from the Reference list and search for them. Do you recover just the abstract or are you able to retrieve the full resource? Do you know what steps you would take to find the full source if you are not able to fully retrieve the reference?
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This is a quick feedback quiz to help us make sure basic things are going ok and plan the rest of the semester with your input!
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The heading above is a link to the presentation guidelines and marking critera that will be used to evaluate your Mathematics Presentations.
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Choose a topic of your choice from one of your current modules and prepare a 4-minute video.
Please carefully read through the Mathematics Presentation Marking Criteria and submit your recording by 17:00 Fri 01 March.
There are two steps you will need to complete in order to successfully upload your submission:
- Uploading a video to your My Media
- Submitting a video assignment (using the video you uploaded to My Media)
There is a link on Step 1 above to help you upload a video to My Media from your mobile. For Step 2, once you are ready to submit your assignment, there an "Embed Kaltura Media" button which allows you to access your My Media and select a video to share/upload. It is the rainbow star, to the right of the microphone button:
As video assignments differ from an average assignment, please make sure you read through the above directions and know how to submit your assignment well ahead of the deadline. Uploading and processing a large video file can take a long time, so do be patient and allow yourself some time for this task.
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Attached are the slides for Sonia's talk. Please do take a look at the upcoming events and links to some of the resources mentioned during our session!
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This week you will begin reading your Research Article in preparation for Assignments 3 and 4
Please find your name in one of the assigned groups appearing in Assignment 3 - Research Article Summary. Please do use the activities in our slides from Weeks 1-7 to help guide your reading and discuss any conclusions, questions and ideas with colleagues in your group as you start drafting your summary! A summary of the reading assignments and skills gained so far in the module is attached here.
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This is a sample Core Maths Curriculum Plan for Key Stage 4/Year 10 from the Oak National Academy Teacher Hub. Please read this or any other curriculum document from the Teacher Hub in order to get an idea of topics and level of maths being covered to help you think of what you might contribute to your students' learning beyond your placement visits.
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Link to the website of the Ark Teacher Training programme, from whom we heard during this week's Friday live session. If you are interested in applying to be a part of the programme, there is a button to direct you to the application portal (as well as some more information about the programme).
Any questions about the Ark Teacher Training programme can be directed to alex.mansbridge@arkonline.org .
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Link to the website of the Department of Education's Get into Teaching internships, about which we heard during this week's Friday live session. If you are interested in applying for one of these internships, this website tells you the next steps you'll need to take.
The programme also runs an Adviser Service to connect you to an experienced teacher who may be able to help you submit a successful application for scholarship applications or teacher training. This can be found here.
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Invitation to participate in a Community-Based Learning and Teaching in Higher Education workshop, jointly run by QMUL and UCL. The workshop will take place between 13:00-15:00 on Friday 26th April. Anyone interested in applying can do so via the link inside the document.
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The heading above is a link to the guidelines and marking critera that will be used to evaluate your Group Presentation.
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Upload your slides for the Group Presentation of the Research Article you have been assigned.
Please carefully read through the Group Presentation Marking Criteria and submit your slides in PDF format by 17:00 Wednesday 10th April. Please note that each of you must submit a copy of the slides for your group so that we are able to assign you a mark for the presentation in our session on Friday 12th April.
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