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The School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics holds an annual Mathematics Teachers Day on campus at the University of Wollongong. The University is committed to supporting schools in its regions and one of the ways we aim to do this is by providing professional development for teachers. The day is your chance to interact with world class academics, while enjoying networking with colleagues. (This day is a chance to interact with world class academics, to respond to ideas for mathematics teaching from your peers, to increase awareness of trends of professional interest, and to network with colleagues. There is no registration fee and lunch is provided free of charge.)
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Mathematics Teachers Day 2008
Tuesday 01 July 2008
9.00am to 3.00pm
Tea/Coffee on arrival, Morning tea and a sit down lunch will be provided, along with information and resources.
Attendance is free
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Registration
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Program of Events
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The last Mathematics Teachers Day was held on 26th June 2007, with a successful turnout from teachers around the region. Here is what some attendees had to say about the event
• “The most worthwhile aspect of the day was having a variety of speakers with different perspectives on maths education”
• “A great day for exposure to the University to see where our students end up”
• “Worthwhile event for linking high schools maths to uni”
Talks and material from 2007 Mathematics Teachers Day
| Google’s success and page rank algorithms |
Assoc Professor Greg Doherty |
The success of Google is predominantly due to mathematics – Google’s page rank algorithm. This talk presents some of the background to this success and some of the mathematics of page rank algorithms. |
| An Introduction to the Laptop Program in Year 7 at St Mary’s |
Gerry Sozio - Head Mathematics Teacher at St Mary Star of the Sea College, Wollongong |
This talk describes an Australia wide Mathematics Program for Schools. A Pilot Program has been run for years’ 7 & 8 with over 130 schools being involved in the program. The nature of the material and the aims of the program are presented. |
| Opinion polls |
Professor David Steel |
A high profile application of mathematical methods is the opinion polls. There are several factors affecting their interpretation that are discussed: sampling error, coverage, analysis of lead and combining several surveys. |
| Link to formulas for pi |
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A list of formulas for pi prepared for Mathematics Teachers Day |
| Link to mathematical quotations |
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List of mathematical quotations prepared for Mathematics Teachers Day |
Talks from previous Mathematics Teachers Days
| An application of functions of the form (ax+b)/(cx+d) to a resource allocation problem. |
Assoc Professor Rod Nillsen |
An aim of this talk, as with the one given in 2005(see below), was to show how school-level mathematics can be used to analyze issues of public policy. The problem here is to determine how recipients of funding would be affected should the criteria for allocating the funds be changed. The issue arose explicitly when the West report on higher education (1998) proposed to change the relative importance of funding to universities based upon teaching and research. A paper based on this talk will appear in The Australian Senior Mathematics Journal. Further information can be found at http://www.uow.edu.au/~nillsen |
| Can quadratic functions tell us whether Brendan Nelson is really trying to save taxpayers' money? |
Assoc Professor Rod Nillsen |
The talk shows how the school-level technique for maximizing a quadratic function can be applied to analyze a controversial issue of public policy -- namely, the extent to which government subsidies to independent schools save taxpayers' money. A paper based on this talk was published in The Australian Senior Mathematics Journal. (vol.21, 2007, pp.58-64). Further information can be found at < http://www.uow.edu.au/~nillsen |
Summertime Maths DVD
The School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics is developing an information DVD for high school students, mathematics teachers and careers advisers, with a number of aims:
1. To provide information regarding Mathematics studies at the University of Wollongong;
2. To encourage students to take the appropriate level of HSC Mathematics for their career choice;
3. To show the relevance of Mathematics in today's world;
4. To provide remedial material for students to use in preparation for University studies.
The DVD is at a stage where we would like to gather feedback from some who will be using the information. What has been prepared so far is available online http://www.math.uow.edu.au/subjects/summer/ Please take a look and tell us what you think! Feedback should be sent to Caz Sandison (sandison@uow.edu.au).
Notes: The site contains a number of video clips that are quite large in size. We recommend you use a broadband link to view the site. The videos are in a format best viewed on a PC. The videos will soon be available in a more universal format.
If you would like further information, or to be added to the mailing list for upcoming events please e-mail Joell Hall at joell@uow.edu.au
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