Symposium 2009

“Building leadership capacity for the development and sharing of mathematics learning resources across disciplines and universities”

An ALTC Leadership for

Excellence in Teaching and Learning grant.

Project Leader: Associate Professor Anne Porter

School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics

University of Wollongong

Support for the production of this symposium has been provided from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

The views expressed in this symposium do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd.

This Symposium Booklet has been produced by the University of Wollongong. The information printed is correct at the time of printing. Any enquiries should be forwarded to the Project Coordinator.

This version dated 13 February, 2009.

Contents

• The Project 5
• Meet our current team: 6
• The Symposium 9
• Day 1 9
• Day 2 10
• Program 12
• Speakers 14
• Dr Ron Sandland, CSIRO 14
• Associate Professor Anne Porter 15
• Dr Linda Galligan, University of Southern Queensland 16
• Dr Geraldine Lefoe, University of Wollongong 17
• Mr Antony Dekkers, Central Queensland University 18
• Dr Birgit Loch, University of Southern Queensland 18
• Ms Nicole White, Queensland University of Technology 19
• Dr Glennys O’Brien, University of Wollongong 20
• Dr Mark Nelson, University of Wollongong & Mrs Hazel Jones, University of Sydney (formerly from UoW) 21
• Ms Wendy Meyers, University of Wollongong 22
• Dr Carmel Coady, University of Western Sydney 23
• Ms Norhayati Baharun, University of Wollongong 23
• Assoc Prof Mohan Chinnappan, University of Wollongong 24
• Dr Nicola Jayne, Southern Cross University 25
• Dr Leigh Wood, Macquarie University 25
• How to become involved… 26
• Contact Information 26
• Delegate List 27
• References 29

The Project

The symposium held this year follows one held in 2008 which looked at mathematics learning at higher education institutions. An unofficial launch of the Summertime Maths disk (www.math.uow.edu.au/subject/summer/index.html) was shown which included some samples of mathematics resources which have been made by the UoW, School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics. This has now grown into a 2 disk DVD and will be extended each year with new resources. Following the 2008 Symposium, an ALTC grant application was submitted, and granted, in the area of Leadership for Excellence in Teaching and Learning which has led to this symposium.

Project Rationale

The project addresses the need to build leadership capacity in teaching and learning, specifically in the area of learning resource development, acquisition and sharing. It builds upon the UOW led Carrick project, Developing the Faculty scholars model, (Lefoe, LE69, 2006) in recognising the value of cross-faculty networks to encourage the dissemination of knowledge and ideas. This project expands upon the Lefoe approach in that it seeks to grow the model from involving the sharing of creative ideas to the sharing of technology-based resources. It retains the cascade dissemination model, whereby, at an appropriate point in time, new collaborative partners are invited to participate in the project. In turn, they will mentor the next institution. Leaders of the initial implementation will invite a new institution to participate. The building of capacity sector

wide involves the initial university participants in later stages, mentoring another university and/or discipline.

The project is premised on the belief that within it there is a knowledge base for leaders on how to develop leadership. Marshall (2006) refers to the eight principal knowledge domains associated with leading teaching and learning. Many programs have been created to develop certain attributes such as

• continuous self-evaluation,

• effective networks to accomplish goals,

• solutions to complex problems,

• the encouragement and mentoring of others, and

• communicating and listening more effectively (see for example, HIH program, 1999).

These types of programs are thought to be adequate to develop leaders that can influence and engage others to effect change (Kotter, 1990) or complete a task. However, without a specific focus on helping leaders to develop leaders, the leadership created may end in the creation of a successful team, not the development of leadership capacity or an increased pool of leaders. This project is in agreement with the notion that leadership inspires leadership actions and aspirations in others (SACLE, 2007). There is, however, a need to examine how leadership can be developed when it arises in the context of staff coming together to undertake a task rather than signing up for a leadership program.

Aims of the project:

• To develop and trial a leadership capacity building framework for developing leaders who will in turn develop leaders in the process of completing an authentic resource;

• To document the knowledge components that are crucial for leadership in the development, acquisition and sharing of learning resources;

• To explore issues that arise in the implementation of the leadership model as circumstances of universities, loci of the project and associated leadership skills vary;

• To further develop cross-institutional networks to increase the capacity of the sector to enhance learning support in mathematics and statistics;

• To document processes and outcomes so as to assist other institutions that are seeking to increase their capacity to provide mathematics and statistics learning support of students.

• To gain an appreciation of how to mix technological resources and human resources in the provision of mathematics learning support.

Meet our current team:

Project Leader

Associate Professor Anne Porter

Project Team Leaders:

Associate Professor Mohan Chinnappan

Associate Professor Graham Williams

Dr Mark Nelson

Dr Glennys O’Brien

Dr Caz Sandison

Project Faculty and Discipline Team Leaders

Dr Roy Brown, Health and Behavioural Science

Dr Grant Cox, School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics

Mr Thomas Goldfinch, Civil/Mining/Environmental Engineering Education

Professor David Griffiths, School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics

Dr Josip Horvat, Engineering Physics

Dr Buyung Kosasih, Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering

Dr Glennys O’Brien, Chemistry

Dr Martin O’Brien, Commerce

Associate Professor Jacqui Ramagge, School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics

Dr Ian Piper, School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Associate Professor Nelson Perera, Graduate School of Business

Ms Reetu Verma, Commerce

Specialist Team Members:

Dr Chris Brown

Ms Wendy Meyers

Ms Emily Purser

Added Links to the Project:

Dr Geraldine Lefoe - ALTC Project:

Distributive Leadership for Learning and Teaching: Developing the Faculty Scholar Model

Professor Timothy McCarthy - ALTC Project:

A pro-active approach to addressing student learning diversity in engineering mechanics

Student contribution:

Norhayati Baharun, School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics, Doctoral Candidate

Thomas Goldfinch,

Our Collaborative Partner is University of Central Queensland

Mr Antony Dekkers, Project Team Leader

Mrs Nadine Adams

Mr Philip Budgeon

Mr Peter Cherry

Mr Clinton Hayes

Mr Steven Millan

External Evaluator:

Dr Leigh Wood, Macquarie University

The Symposium

This aims of the Symposium are to address the sharing and creation of resources across institutions and across disciplines. Members from the higher education academic community have been invited to participate in the discussions during the two days of the symposium.

Building leadership capacity in the development and creation of mathematic and statistics resources is a main focus for this symposium. Discussions regarding the mapping of needs of resources for disciplines together with the learning design requirements in order to produce quality, peer reviewed, evaluated resources. It is the intention of this project that the resources remain open source to further the support of learning for students and aid in the teaching for the academic community.

This symposium’s aims are:

• To provide the delegates an opportunity for discussion regarding resources that need to be made. In particular to map the needs for cross disciplines in mathematics learning.

• To involve a wide cross-section of the higher education academic community in a discussion about learning design in order to help to create quality resources which can then be shared among institutions.

• To engage participants in the project to share resources.

• To network with the community and share expertise and experiences in leadership.

Day 1

Day 1 is focused around the themes and aims of the Project and the aims of the symposium.

Speakers about leadership and the project will begin early in the day to bring a focus for the rest of the symposium. We are pleased to have Dr Ron Sandland from the CSIRO as first speaker to our symposium. Associate Professor Anne Porter, Project Leader, will invite delegates to participate in the project and explain ways in which this is possible.

Dr Linda Galligan will discuss the development of nurses numeracy and development of technology skills.

Dr Geraldine Lefoe will discuss leadership in relation to her own ALTC grant and how the distributive leadership model plays an important role in this project. Joe Chicharo, PVC (International), UoW will launch of The Green Resource. Two members of the ALTC team will present some pertinent information regarding the grant and ALTC’s involvement.

A session targeting an introduction to how Tablet PC technology has been used to create mathematics resources has been scheduled for the afternoon. (A follow up session is scheduled for day two. A Q&A sheet has been included in your pack for you to be able to ask direct questions to our presenters Birgit Loch and Antony Dekkers. See more information on day 2).

Ms Nicole White will be presenting on behalf of Professor Helen McGillivray’s 2006 Carrick project Quantitative diversity: disciplinary and cross-disciplinary mathematics and statistics support in Australian universities. She will be providing an overview of the website created from this project.

For those attending the symposium dinner:

The dinner will be held at the Lagoon Restaurant in Stuart Park, Wollongong. Please make your way there for 6.30pm for a 7pm meal. There is no pre-arranged transport.

Day 2

The University of Wollongong has been creating mathematics resources in various ways using video (talking head style) and tablet PC videos. The resources made for this project will be on show in the morning in day two in Room 20.5. Feel free to come and look through these resources which will be presented on the Project’s tablets. We have some peer review forms if you are interested in participating in this process for the project.

Two of the projects most active members are presenting in the morning. Dr O’Brien is heavily involved in creating resources for Chemistry and mapping the needs of science subjects in her faculty while bringing other members to the team. Dr Nelson is active in producing talking head videos for his mathematics subjects and is currently working on producing a module with the videos made in collaboration with Mrs Hazel Jones who has recently taken a position at University of Sydney. Following from these two talks, Ms Wendy Meyers will discuss learning designs.

Delegates are invited to participate in the break out discussions on day two regarding “What works in Learning Design” and “What resources do we need”. During these two breakout discussions, delegates will be asked to consider some key factors in the areas. A facilitator for these roles will ensure that discussion centres around the theme and will give a short report back in the afternoon.

A follow on discussion session regarding Tablet PCs will happen on Day two by both Birgit Loch and Antony Dekkers/Clinton Hayes. A question sheet has been included in your pack for you to submit to the Project Coordinator at the end of the afternoon session to help with the direction of these discussions. There is no booking for these sessions. Please feel free to attend both or either of these sessions.

Mr Matthew Tonini has been working on our project for over six months and has mastered the use of tablet technology for the creation of the videos. Matthew will present two x 1hour Tablet Technical sessions in which attendants will be able to create a short video using the technology. Limited places are available for people to participate as only two people to a tablet is possible so bookings are essential for these two sessions. Please register at the desk in the foyer during morning tea on Day 1. On-lookers are welcome!

The afternoon session will incorporate an important opportunity for you to listen to evaluation of the resources in use. Ms Norhayati Baharun has begun a PhD and has conducted evaluation on the use of statistical tablet video resources as part of a University of Wollongong subject.

Associate Professor Mohan Chinnappan from the Education department is experimenting with ways in which to use the tablet to produce various representations of mathematical concepts for teachers to use in teaching.

Dr Nicola Jayne from Southern Cross University will introduce us to a new technology used in her institution.

A ‘mingle session’ has been deliberately constructed in the symposium in order to encourage you to talk and share during day two. We hope that you will take the time to introduce yourself to someone you don’t know to keep networking and keep sharing ideas, expertise and knowledge.

Finally, our symposium closes with some thoughts by the Project’s external evaluator Dr Leigh Wood from Macquarie University. We thank Dr Wood for coming for the two days to be involved in this very important symposium for our project.

Finally, the project team hope that you have an informative, productive and collaborative two days!

A special thank you to the Symposium Program Organising Committee: Dr Mark Nelson, Dr Glennys O’Brien and Ms Wendy Meyers.

Program

Day 1 – Monday 16^th February

Location: 20.4

8.45am	Registration. Coffee and Tea
9.30-9.40	Opening address: Vice Chancellor Gerard Sutton University of Wollongong
9.40-10.10	Dr Ron Sandland, CSIRO “Leadership for enhancing mathematical competency”
10.10-10.30	Welcome speech by Associate Professor Graham Williams, Deputy Dean, Informatics
10.30-11.00 Morning Tea
Morning session chair: Associate Professor Graham Williams
11.00-11.30	Associate Professor Anne Porter, University of Wollongong “Building leadership capacity … An invitation to participate”
11.30-12.00	Dr Linda Galligan, University of Southern Queensland “Using interprofessional collaborations to embed academic numeracy in university courses: a case study from nursing.”
12.00-1.00 Lunch
Afternoon session 1 chair: Professor David Griffiths
1-00-3.00	Leadership Session: Dr Geraldine Lefoe – Distributive Leadership. Session includes “The Green Resource” launch by Professor Joe Chicharo, PVC (International), UoW. Elizabeth McDonald (Director – Programs and Networks) and Siobhan Linnehan (Head of Programs) – ALTC, Copyright and Creative Commons.
3.00-3.30 Afternoon Tea
Afternoon session 2 chair: Patricia Cretchley
3.30-4.00	Mr Antony Dekkers, University of Central Queensland “Learning from change – How the Tablet PC changes my teaching in the Field of Mathematics Education”
4.00-4.30	Dr Birgit Loch, University of Southern Queensland “The journey from periphery to mainstream – Tablet PCs at USQ”
4.30-5.00	Ms Nicole White, Queensland University of Technology “Australian Network in Learning Support in Mathematics and Statistics (ANiLSiMS)”
6.30	Symposium Dinner at Lagoon Seaside Restaurant for 7pm

Day 2 – Tuesday 17^th February

8.30-9.15	Coffee and Tea available			UOW Show & Tell. (Room 20.5)
Morning Session 1 chair : Mr Antony Dekkers (Room 20.4)
9.30-9.50	Dr Glennys O’Brien, University of Wollongong "Mapping the mathematical needs of students doing science subjects."
9.50-10.10	Dr Mark Nelson, University of Wollongong and Mrs Hazel Jones, University of Sydney “We’ve got the resources, now what do we do? Two uses of mathematical videos to engage students”
10.10-10.30	Ms Wendy Meyers, University of Wollongong “Developing effective video learning resources”
10.30-11.00 Morning Tea
Morning Session 2 chair: Ms Wendy Meyers (Room 20.4)
11.00-11.30	Dr Carmel Coady, University of Western Sydney “Incorporating a holistic learning design in the delivery of a first-year mathematics unit.”
11.30-12.00	Break Out Session 1 (Room 20.4) “What works in Learning Design” Facilitator: Mrs Hazel Jones		Break Out Session 2 (Room 20.3) “ What resources do we need” Facilitator: TBA
12.00-1.00	Lunch		Tablet Technical Session 1 Mr Matthew Tonini, University of Wollongong (Bookings required as limited numbers) (Room 20.5)
Afternoon Session chair: Dr Glennys O’Brien (Room 20.4)
1.00-1.20	Ms Norhayati Baharun, University of Wollongong “Building leadership and Supporting student learning: gathering evidence”
1.20-1.40	Assoc Prof Mohan Chinnappan, University of Wollongong “Connectivity among representations of fractions”
1.40-2.00	Dr Nicola Jayne, Southern Cross University “Successful Use of Elluminate in Undergraduate Business Quantitative Units”
2.00 – 3.30 Afternoon Tea and mingle session
2.30-3.30	Dr Birgit Loch Tablet Discussion Session (Room 20.3)	Mr Antony Dekkers & Mr Clinton Hayes Tablet Discussion Session (Room 20.4)			Tablet Technical Session 2 (Bookings required as limited numbers) (Room 20.5)
3.30-3.45	Break Out session reports (Room 20.4)
3.45-4.15	Closing – Dr Leigh Wood, Associate Dean Learning and Teaching, Macquarie University

Speakers

(in order of program)

Dr Ron Sandland, CSIRO

Talk Title Leadership for enhancing mathematical competency

Biography

Dr Ron Sandland’s career at CSIRO culminated in the award of the 2006 CSIRO Medal for lifetime achievement. When Ron joined CSIRO’s Division of Mathematics and Statistics in 1969, his job was to measure and count almost everything, from the size of ore bodies to fish numbers and the estimated populations of heroin addicts.

In 1988, after nineteen years of growth curve analysis, allometry and recursive regression procedures, Ron became Chief of the Division. Under his leadership, there was a complete culture change as the Division went from being internally focussed to being customer orientated, with a more than ten-fold increase in external revenues.

In 1996 Ron steered the Division of Mathematics and Statistics through a merger with the Division of Information Technology, and in 1999 he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive of CSIRO. One highlight of his time as Deputy CEO was leading the highly successful Flagship Program through its first 3 years. For the powerful sense of rationality and humanity he brought to his diverse roles, Ron was often spoken of as the ‘heart and soul’ of CSIRO.

Ron has also contributed enormously to the discipline and profession of statistics both in Australia and internationally.  It was during his term as President that the Statistical Society of Australia embraced accreditation. One of his significant contributions to the wider fields of science and engineering was as Chair of the Visiting Committee of the University of Wollongong’s Faculty of Informatics during the early 1990’s.

Dr Sandland was recently appointed as Chair of the steering committee of the Australian National Data Service and as a member of the Council of UTS.

Abstract

In this talk I shall attempt to distill some lessons from a recent examination of Mathematics at Flinders University which I undertook at the request of the Vice Chancellor. I shall also attempt to relate these lessons to others I learned in working at the interface between science and mathematics at CSIRO.

The primary focus of my talk will be on the importance of leadership in all facets of mathematical education in the university; this need extends well beyond the teaching of would-be mathematicians and mathematics programs per se.

Mathematics is increasingly playing a vital part in the educational experience and research in disciplines other than Mathematics – biology, environmental science, business and finance, ……Yet for a variety of reasons the mathematical preparation of many students entering these courses is worryingly poor. The “sink or swim” approach is now totally inappropriate.

I will discuss some of the findings from the Flinders examination cast in a more generic context. I shall also address some of the CSIRO thinking on the role of the mathematical sciences across the research spectrum in this context.

Strong leadership to frame and address these questions is a sine qua non. The implications of failing to address these issues will be far more profound than declining enrolments in Mathematics.

Associate Professor Anne Porter

Talk title Building Leadership Capacity…An Invitation to Participate

Biography

Anne Porter has been involved in Mathematics and Statistics Education since the 1970’s. Trained as a secondary high-school mathematics teacher Anne worked for many years in the Department of Psychology and in later years in the Learning Development Centre at the University of Wollongong. For the last 12 years she has been a lecturer in statistics at the University of Wollongong. Out of the classroom she has concentrated on working with staff to improve students’ learning outcomes. In 2007 Anne was awarded a Carrick citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning for "Leadership in improving learning outcomes in informatics through staff mentoring in systematic quality improvement in processes and projects".

Abstract

This symposium, or bringing together of people from around Australia is our way of inviting participation in the ALTC funded project Building Leadership Capacity in the Development and Sharing of Mathematics Learning resources across disciplines and universities. There are two aims to this project, building a repository of predominantly video based resources that support the learning of mathematics and statistical skills and concepts that would be expected at first year university level. As such the repository will extend back into basic high school mathematics and forward into higher year subjects in across disciplines such as Science or Engineering or wherever mathematics is required. We recognise that to accomplish a task of this size that we need to build leadership capacity; we need to develop leaders who develop other leaders, inviting them to contribute to the project, both in terms of developing and sharing and in terms of building the capacity to lead yet others. The papers selected have been chosen to introduce participants to various aspects of the project, not as the defining aspects or finalised processes, but as sharing the beginning of the journey. We have the expectation that by the end of the symposium we will have a clearer direction, a better understanding of needs and an expanded repertoire of methodologies. We expect that participants will have gained some perspective on how they and their institutions can both benefit from and contribute to the project both in terms of leadership and resource creation and/or sharing. We expect to know each other better so that communication between us and working together is facilitated.

Dr Linda Galligan, University of Southern Queensland

Talk Title Using interprofessional collaborations to embed academic numeracy in

university courses: a case study from nursing

Biography

From the early 1990’s to 2005 Linda worked with international students, preparing them for university. She also undertook research and published in this area, particularly in language and mathematics. During this time and to 2008, she also supported students at university who were under-prepared in mathematics. She also lectured and tutored in a 1^st year undergraduate mathematics course and has written material to support students in Economics, Statistics, Nursing, Science and a general Tertiary Preparation Program. Her research also branched into this field, particularly in the area of nursing numeracy. This is now the subject of her doctoral thesis. In 2009 she takes on the new role of Academic Liaison in the Department of Mathematics and Computing.

Abstract

This presentation will describe the interprofessional practices of a first year nursing program which crosses interdisciplinary boundaries to build the academic and professional attributes student nurses need if they are to succeed at university and in the nursing profession. In particular it will focus on the first year mathematics and computing course Building Professional Nursing Attributes B. The aims of this course are to develop students’ numeracy and information technology skills directly linked and highly relevant to their degree. These skills are developed by embedding aspects of other courses taken in the students’ first semester and by being mindful of courses taken later in the program. IT features are also integrated throughout the course structure. The course material is prepared in multi-modal form (i.e. print, CD, website) through an in-house content creation system that allows learning objects to be embedded in the material. The assessment items and other resources are made available online using a simple web site with user authentication.

The presentation will also describe the characteristics of the academic numeracy component of this course and how it is embedded in the course design. Characteristics include: an academic numeracy audit (what numeracy is needed in nursing), a student self audit (what numeracy skills students have) and a student self reflection (what numeracy students think they need to develop including aspects of accuracy, confidence and competence which is critical in nursing). Academic numeracy is embedded through a flexible approach to accessing curriculum alternatives; flexible content with relevant in context examples for a diverse student cohort and flexible integrated scaffolded delivery (i.e. using learning objects to support student learning when students need it).

The course has been extensively evaluated and feedback from both staff and students will be included in the presentation.

Dr Geraldine Lefoe, University of Wollongong

Leadership Session

Biography

Dr Lefoe has over 30 years experience in the learning and teaching arena, most recently as an academic developer at the University of Wollongong, where she has contributed to the field for twelve years. She has been the Project Leader for the 2006 ALTC funded leadership grant, entitled Distributive leadership for learning and teaching: Developing the faculty scholar mode. The project has reached completion and related resources are available within the ALTC Exchange and through the website http://www.uow.edu.au/cedir/DistributiveLeadership/index.html. In 2008, further funding was received from ALTC by Ass. Prof Heather Smigiel, Flinders University to build on this project which used a cascade approach to dissemination. An additional project, led by Dr Anne Porter at University of Wollongong also builds on this model. Dr Lefoe also contributed her expertise to develop, in collaboration with team members, the staff development component of New technologies, new pedagogies: Using mobile technologies to develop new ways of teaching and learning. This 2006ALTC funded competitive grant was led by Jan and Tony Herrington, Brian Ferry and Ian Olney.

Dr Lefoe has undertaken a number of leadership roles during this time within the institution including coordinating the academic development unit, initiating and facilitating the Faculty Scholars Program, the basis for the ALTC funding. She has recently completed a four year term as Vice-President of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) and in this capacity she co-led an invited research project focusing on User Needs for the Carrick Exchange 2006-2008. This project involved complex collaboration across a number of teams at a number of locations and was completed on time and within budget with the final outcomes of five reports. Other major initiatives within ascilite over her eight year term as executive member and Vice President included initiating and implementing a very successful mentoring scheme for new members of the profession which has currently been underway for five years.

Within the Academic development Unit, Dr Lefoe has contributed to over 20 internal and external grants totaling more than $500K; and has conducted national and international staff development consultancies in the UK, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Dr Lefoe researches in the areas of leadership and staff development in higher education, and the role of educational technology in higher education.

Abstract

"With distributive leadership, those people who may not sit in hierarchical positions of leadership have an opportunity to lead both upwards and sideways among their colleagues and through this mechanism have a real opportunity to influence others and more importantly influence those with power that comes with hierarchical positions of leadership”.

This presentation provides an overview of the framework and outcomes of the GREEN Report and engages participants in discussion about the potential for the model to support new partners to participate in the next stage of the Building leadership capacity for development and sharing of mathematics learning resources across disciplines and universities.

Mr Antony Dekkers, Central Queensland University

Talk Title Learning from change – How the Tablet PC changes my teaching in the Field of Mathematics Education.

Biography

Antony Dekkers is currently Senior Lecture in Faculty of Science, Engineering & Health and currently develops and deliveries courses in the Engineering Program. He also has had fifteen years experience in delivering bridging tertiary mathematics and is part of team developing bridging mathematics material used within the Mathematics Learning Centre. Current research interests include the development and delivery of online or CD based resources for teaching bridging tertiary mathematics and Engineering courses.

Abstract

The teaching of mathematics today focuses on providing more meaning for students, encouraging them to think logically, developing their number sense and cultivating a true mathematical understanding. This presentation seeks to explore the complex interaction among three bodies of knowledge: Content, Pedagogy, and Technology and the issues inherent in the delivery courses with mathematical content using a Tablet PC to aid students’ understanding course content.

Dr Birgit Loch, University of Southern Queensland

Talk Title The journey from periphery to mainstream – Tablet PCs at USQ

Biography

Birgit is a Senior Lecturer in Computing at the University of Southern Queensland. As a computational mathematician, she teaches mainly large first year service courses in mathematics and computing, face to face and online to distance students located around the world.

Birgit's interest in technology use for learning and teaching began with the successful trial of a graphics tablet for writing in class when she gave her first undergraduate mathematics lectures. She was the first lecturer to use a tablet PC for teaching when she joined USQ. Since then, the university has funded additional tablet PCs for teaching in
mathematical sciences through a learning and teaching grant, and more recently supported a learning and teaching senior fellowship for 2009 to equip all faculties with tablet PCs for teaching, and to provide staff training in hardware and software use.

Birgit's research interests are mathematical surface fitting, electronic ink in mathematics teaching and staff development in technology use for learning and teaching. She is also one of the two editors of the Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society.

Abstract

Tablet PCs have been around for a number of years now, however their uptake in tertiary education in Australia has been limited and not much research has been completed on the benefits of this technology. This is most likely due to higher purchasing costs and internal procurement policies, as well as not knowing what to do with a tablet PC.

In this presentation, I will outline USQ's journey from one tablet PC used for mathematics teaching to on campus and distance students, to a larger number involving other symbol-dependent disciplines in the Faculty of Sciences such as chemistry and biology funded by a university learning and teaching grant, to a university-wide approach involving all faculties, learning and teaching support and all campuses, supported by a university learning and teaching senior fellowship.

I will particularly highlight some of the exciting projects that have been undertaken at USQ, driven by mathematics and statistics lecturers and mathematics learning and teaching support academics. They range from lecture delivery and recording, explanations on demand, individual support sessions and electronic assignment marking, to synchronous online tutorials using a chat client, and web conferencing tutorials with students (and instructors) located on different continents and in different time zones. I will also discuss problems encountered during the journey, and how they were approached and solved.

USQ’s innovative use of tablet PCs has resulted in a number of educational research papers which will be briefly discussed.

Ms Nicole White, Queensland University of Technology

Talk Title Australian Network in Learning Support in Mathematics and Statistics

(ANiLSiMS)

Biography

Nicole White was involved in a Carrick project held by Helen MacGillivray in December 2007. She contributed for the cataloguing and description of Australian-based learning support resources and as note-taker during the project’s 2007 Symposium held as part of the Project. She has participated in the tutor training program developed at QUT and has had experience tutoring mathematics and statistics units for first and second year science and engineering students, in addition to lecturing a core mathematics unit during summer semester. Nicole is currently studying a Doctor of Philosophy in Bayesian biostatistics at Queensland University of Technology.

Abstract

This presentation provides an overview of the website “The Australian Network in Learning Support in Mathematics and Statistics”, created as part of the 2006 Carrick (now ALTC) Project, “Quantitative diversity: disciplinary and cross-disciplinary mathematics and statistics support in Australian universities”, led by Professor Helen MacGillivray and Queensland University of Technology. This work was the last component of the Project, and aimed to catalogue all publicly accessible, internet-based resources in mathematics developed by Australian universities, and many of those developed in the UK. With the aim of increasing awareness and promoting collaboration for the sharing of learning support materials, this website is intended as a central resource for mathematics and statistics teaching and learning resources for the tertiary sector. The presentation will also include brief reference to other components of the Project and the Project reports where appropriate.

Dr Glennys O’Brien, University of Wollongong

Talk Title Mapping the mathematical needs of students doing science subjects

Biography

Glennys O’Brien is the Director of First Year Studies in the School of Chemistry and 2009 Faculty of Science Teaching and Learning Scholar. Glennys has a background in environmental and analytical chemistry. She has been involved with teaching chemistry at various levels in the tertiary sector for a decade, and has been in her current role for three years. The first year student cohort covers a wide range of disciplines and varies greatly in terms of skills brought to their chemistry studies. Glennys is involved in two linked projects relating to teaching, this project developing mathematics resources and the Mapping Science Subjects and Courses project which is linked to provide background mapping of needs for the mathematics project.

Abstract

Our initial experience in developing specific mathematics resources for first year chemistry students is now being carried into assessing the needs of students doing any science subject. Mapping is proceeding via (1) consulting first year chemistry staff, (2) informal feedback from science academics for MATH151, (3) consultation with First Year Biology for consistency of approach and (4) the linked current Faculty of Science project: “Mapping Science Subjects and Courses”. We are developing concept specific calculation examples. We are now also moving on the use of calculators and graphs with a team from biology, chemistry and mathematics. Both academic and technical staff who have much tuition experience are involved.

Further work is planned to assess the actual stumbling blocks in the sequence “science problem/scenario → mathematical relationship → mathematical operation(s) → interpretation of mathematical result back into science context” via focus groups.

The underlying intent is to lead students into improved mathematical literacy, not just skills, by presenting aspects of their science as a conversation conducted in mathematical language. We have to get past being alarmed by the mathematical ineptitude of many students and simply say and model that this is the language we use and this is how we use it to describe how things are related in the physical world and, furthermore, from the use of mathematics we derive a number of scientifically useful outcomes.

My own leadership role includes relationships with both students and staff: (1) I see most first year Science and H&BS students in first year chemistry weekly for the whole year, so I play a key role in pushing mathematics literacy and skills. (2) Liaising with staff to ensure others have ownership of this project and the task is spread, (3) Leading staff to generally promote the development of mathematics literacy, (4) Facilitating staff quickly progressing in developing resources specific to their subject by using the tablet PC system.

Dr Mark Nelson, University of Wollongong & Mrs Hazel Jones, University of Sydney (formerly from UoW)

Talk Title We’ve got the resources, now what do we do? Two uses of mathematical videos to engage students

Biography – Mark Nelson:

Dr Mark Nelson is an applied mathematician from the University of Wollongong. His area of research interest is the applications of mathematics to problems from physical chemistry, combustion science and reactor engineering. At Wollongong he taught first-year engineering students mathematics for six years and is in his third year of teaching science students who stopped their mathematics education in year ten the mathematics they need for their degrees. (This involves teaching the `best' parts of year 11 and year 12 mathematics in 13 weeks). He has been involved in a number of teaching initiatives to develop learning resources for both students taking mathematics as a service course and mathematics majors.

Biography – Hazel Jones:

Hazel has over fifteen years experience at different universities around Australia. Her first experiences in eLearning were at University of Tasmania where she worked alongside academics developing online material for subjects in the disciplines of Tourism, Sociology and Social Work on a number of different projects. Hazel moved to University of Wollongong at the beginning of 2005 to the School of Economics and Information Systems. She was involved in several teaching and learning projects within the school and the Faculty of Commerce. She commenced as Learning Designer in CEDIR in May 2007 and has worked on many projects with staff throughout the university She has furthered her knowledge and skills in the area of eLearning through completion of a Masters of Online Education through USQ and adopted these skills and knowledge into her work practices. In 2008 Hazel had her first three publications through conference proceedings at University of Wollongong Emerging Technologies conference and ascilite 2008. Hazel has just commenced a new appointment at University of Sydney as Educator and Instructional Designer in Centre for Continuing Education.

Abstract

Mathematics videos have been produced at the University of Wollongong for a number years. In the initial stages there was a concentration on producing videos that provided "worked examples". In such videos an individual works through a problem, explaining their thinking process as the solution develops.

More recently two new video genres have been developed. In the first, two or three students discuss a mathematical idea, using examples on a whiteboard ('individual tutorial'). These videos have been developed for a specific course at University of Wollongong (MATH111 - Applied Mathematical Modelling I) and have been made available to students as part of a concept map for the second half of the course. In the second genre (`Maths in Action'), a non-mathematics student or academic staff member talks about the use of mathematics to solve a problem in their discipline (typically a science subject). The latter has many similarities to the "worked examples" genre, except that the mathematics is now embedded into a scientific context and the emphasis is on how a facility with mathematics, deliver the science student an understanding of their science problem.

In this presentation we will discuss the stages of development of such videos, from their conception through to their use in engaging students. Issues discussed include the production of resources, the different ways in which videos can be utilised and the appropriate organisation of such resources on an e-learning site so as to both promote learning outcomes and to engage students. The importance of evaluation at each stage is also discussed.

We propose that this staged approach could be readily adopted in a range of subjects across all disciplines.

Ms Wendy Meyers, University of Wollongong

Talk Title Developing effective video learning resource

Biography

Wendy is committed to excellence in teaching and learning. Her particular interests are eTeaching, developing online resources, designing and developing eLearning activities, online collaboration and communication and emerging technologies. She has a background in education, the visual arts and graphic design. These areas combine to enable her to bring an understanding of the design process and visual literacy alongside her knowledge of current teaching pedagogies to create effective dynamic learning environments.

Abstract

Within Higher Education, many innovative teachers are developing videos and short animations to support there teaching. This presentation aims to inform these developers. It will draw on current research to discuss the development of effective resources. In particular it will examine the role of teaching teams in both the development and sustainability of resource development.

Dr Carmel Coady, University of Western Sydney

Talk Title Incorporating a holistic learning design in the delivery of a first-year

mathematics unit

Biography

Carmel Coady has been a secondary and tertiary educator for over 30 years. Her teaching responsibilities are focussed on first-year mathematics and statistics units with corresponding research interests in these areas. Her current positions at UWS are Assistant Associate Dean, Academic and Associate Head of School, School of Computing and Mathematics, both within the College of Health and Science.

Abstract

For many years, Australian universities have been accepting students into their courses with inadequate mathematical backgrounds. Recently this situation has degenerated to the point where some students are enrolling in courses without even basic numeracy skills. This report will describe a first-year mathematics unit that attempts to remediate numeracy skills within the context of a holistic learning design. The resources needed will also be described.

Ms Norhayati Baharun, University of Wollongong

Talk Title Building leadership and Supporting student learning: gathering evidence”

Biography

Norhayati Baharun is a doctoral postgraduate student in School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics at University of Wollongong, Australia. She is currently attached with University of Technology MARA (UiTM) Malaysia as a Senior Lecturer in the field of Statistics. The area of her study is Social Statistics that focus on Statistics Education with a topic “Impact of Mathematics Learning Support on Student Outcomes”.

Abstract

The improvement of learning outcomes is a key priority for both, the Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong and this ALTC project. This paper is to start a conversation as to how we gather evidence to support the development and use of resources for supporting students’ learning and the effectiveness of leadership capacity building. The three case studies presented were designed to gather evidence as to the impact of learning resources in particular video resources on student learning outcomes such as student understanding of topics, performance and impact on anxiety. The first design Aminifar (2007) used compared the mathematics performance of students who used video resources to bridge the gap to university with students who chose not to use the resources. Her results revealed a significant improvement in performances of students who used the resources compared to those who did not. In her second study two cohorts of students were examined: students from 2004 and students from 2007 so as to ascertain the impact of video resources when made available for the duration of the subject. For the cohort that had learning support resources for the entire subject improvements in performance were sustained for the duration of the subject when compared to the cohort who had no access to video. The third case study (Norhayati & Porter, 2008) involved 66 on-campus students and 20 distance postgraduate health students undertaking an introductory level statistics subject at the University of Wollongong. Prompts in the E-Learning forum elicited responses that revealed many students were concerned about studying statistics. Their comments to the forum as video resources were made available suggested a reduction in anxiety. Responses to a questionnaire at the end of session found the introduction of video resources were found to be helpful both in terms of increasing understanding and the reduction of student anxiety.

Assoc Prof Mohan Chinnappan, University of Wollongong

Talk Title Connectivity among representations of fractions

Biography

A/Prof Mohan Chinnappan is a mathematics teacher educator at the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong. For the past 20 years his teaching and research endeavours have focussed on mathematical knowledge and the development of innovative strategies to foster deep mathematical understanding among K-12 students and teachers. He is a consultant on numeracy projects for a number of national and international agencies including DET, CEO, Ministry of Education (Indonesia) and Regional Centre for Mathematics and Science Education (Malaysia). His current research project examines the use of ICT in the rapid assessment and promotion of algebra schemas among students in the Illawarra region.

Abstract

The teaching and learning of mathematics can be better supported with activities that build on learner’s prior knowledge, experiences and understanding of concepts. Learning designs that foreground these understandings in the form of representations could be effective in enriching students’ grasp of concepts and their applications. In this session, I will demonstrate the use of PC Tablet in the development of alternative representations in the portrayal of fractions. These representations not only provide different windows into the kinds of knowledge that students construct but also provide teachers with avenues to encourage students to justify the relations amongst representations. I argue that professional development of mathematics teachers should involve a closer examination of activities can be used to make judgements about students’ conceptual learning. In particular, leadership activities in innovative mathematics teaching strategies need to examine the use of resources that constrain students to reflect on what they are learning and scaffold the growth of conceptually driven mathematics.

Dr Nicola Jayne, Southern Cross University

Talk Title Successful Use of Elluminate in Undergraduate Business Quantitative Units

Biography

As a lecturer in the School of Commerce and Management at Southern Cross University, since 1993, I have taught a wide range of quantitative units both undergraduate and postgraduate.

In my teaching, I attempt to establish a clear link between the quantitative content and its uses in the real world by using real-life problems and data with a strong emphasis on interpretation and communication of results.

Over the years, I have been innovative and experimental in my teaching; developing self-paced units, introducing Minitab and later PaceXL projects for Statistics students and developing unit websites since 2000. I have used Elluminate Live extensively since Semester 2, 2005.

Finally, I am a co-author (one of six) of the Australian adaptations of two US statistics textbooks and currently the Bachelor of Business Course Coordinator.

Abstract

Elluminate Live! ©, an enhanced virtual classroom with both text and voice capabilities, has been used since 2005 in the Bachelor of Business quantitative units. Elluminate was first introduced to provide supplementary support to distance students and meet the needs of a significant proportion of students for additional Excel instruction and/or revision sessions. However, since 2008 Elluminate online lectures have also replaced face-to-face lectures for on-campus students.

Evidence will be provided to show how Elluminate, both synchronously and asynchronously, enhances; student experience, efficiency in delivery, and flexibility to both distance and on-campus students. Also discussed will be problems encountered, and corresponding solutions, and student feedback both positive and negative.

Elluminate recordings will be used to provide examples of techniques to encourage student interaction and feedback, the graphing calculator, polling tool and application sharing. The example of application sharing will demonstrate the use of Excel to allow students to follow the commands in real time.

Dr Leigh Wood, Macquarie University

Leigh Wood is Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Macquarie University. Prior to this she was Director of the Mathematics Study Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney. Teaching and learning rely on collaborative processes between teacher and student, and Leigh supports both students and staff by empowering them to achieve their full potential. Her work has been oriented to the development of effective and efficient practices to enhance learning. Her major research is in transitions: transition to university study and transition to professional work. The research focuses on students, graduates and lecturers, specifically their perceptions of learning and of their discipline, with particular attention to communication. Recent findings provide a theoretical and practical basis for the investigation of learning and the transition to the workplace – how people move from
being students to developing a professional identity with the requisite professional skills and attitudes. She has extensive publications in journals and books and a strong international reputation. She leads two research groups at Macquarie and one international group.

How to become involved…

"If you are interested in becoming involved in this project please contact the Project Leader or Project Co-ordinator. You may be interested in participating in all or selected aspects such as literature review, peer review of resources, leading a team to create resources for Indigenous students, or for maths in Agriculture... or you may simply wish to use resources and gather and share student evaluation. We aim to facilitate your role as a member of the team and in particular to work with you develop and explore your leadership potential."

Contact Information

Project Leader Associate Professor Anne Porter

School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics

University of Wollongong

Phone: (02) 4221 4058

Fax: (02) 4221 4845

Email: alp@uow.edu.au

Project Co-ordinator Ms Sue Denny

School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics

University of Wollongong

Phone: (02) 4221 4943

Fax (02) 4221 4845

Email: sdenny@uow.edu.au

Delegate List

Surname	First Name	Institution	Address 1	Email
Abrantes	Jo	University of Wollongong	Computer Scienc & Software Engineering	jo@uow.edu.au
Adams	Nadine	Central Queensland University	Division of Teaching & Learning - Mackay Campus	n.adams@cqu.edu.au
Armstrong	Lyn	University of Western Sydney	Student Learning Unit - Penrith	l.armstrong@uws.edu.au
Baharun	Norhayati	University of Wollongong	School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics	nbb470@uow.edu.au
Belward	Shaun	James Cook University	Discipline Leader - Mathematics	shaun.belward@jcu.edu.au
Brady	Kathy	Flinders University	School of Education	kathy.brady@flinders.edu.au
Branford	Alan	Flinders University	School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics	alan@csem.flinders.edu.au
Brown	Peter	University of New South Wales	c/- School of Mathematics and Statistics,	peter@unsw.edu.au
Brown	Roy	University of Wollongong	Health & Behavioural Sciences	roy_brown@uow.edu.au
Budgeon	Phil	Central Queensland University	STEPS - Gladstone	p.budgeon@cqu.edu.au
Cherry	Peter	Central Queensland University	Faculty of Informatics & Communication - Rockhampton	p.cherry@cqu.edu.au
Chinnappan	Mohan	University of Wollongong	Faculty of Education	mohan@uow.edu.au
Clark	Julie	Flinders University	School of Education	julie.clark@flinders.edu.au
Coady	Carmel	University of Western Sydney	Associate Head of School, Mathematics	c.coady@uws.edu.au
Couchman	Alan	Monash University	School of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science	Alan.Couchman@sci.monash.edu.au
Cretchley	Patricia	Queensland University of Technology	School of Engineering Systems	patricia.cretchley@qut.edu.au
Cullis	Kerrie	Charles Sturt University	School of Computing & Mathematics	kcullis@csu.edu.au
Dekkers	Antony	Central Queensland University	STEPS - Rockhampton	a.dekkers@cqu.edu.au
Edwards	Maureen	University of Wollongong	School of Maths & Applied Stats	maureen@uow.edu.au
Galligan	Linda	University of Southern Queensland	Learning and Teaching Support Unit	galligan@usq.edu.au
Goldfinch	Tom	University of Wollongong	Engineering	tomgold@uow.edu.au
Griffiths	David	University of Wollongong	School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics	griffd@uow.edu.au
Gupta	Madan	University of Queensland	School of land, Crop & Food Sciences	m.gupta@uq.edu.au
Hastie	David	University of Wollongong	Faculty of Engineering	dhastie@uow.edu.au
Hayes	Clinton	Central Queensland University	STEPS - Rockhampton	c.hayes@cqu.edu.au
Hewitt	Mary	University of Canberra	Mathematics & Statistics	Mary.Hewett@canberra.edu.au
Holt	Julienne	Southern Cross University	Learning Assistance - Lismore	jholt@scu.edu.au
Jayne	Nicola	Southern Cross University	School of Commere & Management - Lismore	nicola.jayne@scu.edu.au
Jones	Hazel	University of Sydney	Centre for Continuing Education	hazelj59@gmail.com
Kuit	Tracey	University of Wollongong	Biological Sciences	tburnett@uow.edu.au
Lefoe	Geraldine	University of Wollongong	CEDIR	glefoe@uow.edu.au
Loch	Birgit	University of Southern Queensland	Department of Mathematics and Computing, Faculty of Sciences	lochb@usq.edu.au
Maddox	Leone	Flinders University	Staff Development & Training Unit	leone.maddox@flinders.edu.au
Mathu	Karpagam	University of Wollongong	Civil, mining and environmental engineering	knm621@uow.edu.au
McCarthy	Tim	University of Wollongong	School Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering	timmc@uow.edu.au
Mikac	Katarina	University of Wollongong	Faculty of Science	kmikac@uow.edu.au
Millan	Stephen	Central Queensland University	Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education	s.millan@cqu.edu.au
Misfer Al Otaibi	Madawi	University of Wollongong		mmao997@uow.edu.au
Morris	Maureen	University of Western Sydney	Student Learning Unit - Campbelltown	m.morris@uws.edu.au
Mullamphy	D'Arcy	James Cook University	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Information Technology	darcy.mullamphy@jcu.edu.au
Mullan	Judy	University of Wollongong	Graduate School of Medicine	judy_mullan@uow.edu.au
Nelson	Mark	University of Wollongong	School of Maths & Applied Stats	mnelson@uow.edu.au
Nicholls	John	University of Western Sydney	Student Learning Unit - Parramatta	j.nicholls@uws.edu.au
Nickolas	Peter	University of Wollongong	School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics	peter@uow.edu.au
O'Brien	Martin	University of Wollongong	Commerce	martinob@uow.edu.au
O'Brien	Glennys	University of Wollongong	Chemistry	gobrien@uow.edu.au
Pahor	Milan	University of New South Wales	School of Maths and Statistics	pahor@maths.unsw.edu.au
Porter	Anne	University of Wollongong	School of Mathematics & Applied Statistics	alp@uow.edu.au
Purser	Emily	University of Wollongong	Learning Development Unit	emily_purser@uow.edu.au
Ranjbar	Abbas	University of Wollongong	ISEM	ar143@uow.edu.au
Ranjbartoreh	Ali Reza	University of Wollongong	Faculty of Engineering	alir@uow.edu.au
Roberts	Malcolm	University of Newcastle	School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences	Malcolm.Roberts@newcastle.edu.au
Tonini	Matthew	University of Wollongong	Chemistry
Townley-Jones	Maureen	University of Newcastle	School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences	maureen.townley-jones@newcastle.edu.au
Verma	Reetu	University of Wollongong	Commerce	reetu@uow.edu.au
Williams	Graham	University of Wollongong	Faculty of Informatics	ghw@uow.edu.au
Wood	Leigh	Macquarie University	Department of Statistics	lwood@efs.mq.edu.au
Worthy	Annette	University of Wollongong	School of Maths & Applied Stats	annie@uow.edu.au

References

The following references are from the Project section found on pages 4-5.

Kotter, J. (1990) A force for change: how leadership differs from management. New York: Free Press.

Lefoe, G. (2006) Distributive leadership for learning and teaching: Developing the faculty scholars model. Grant Application Accessed 27/03/2008

Marshall, S. J. Issues in the Development of Teaching and Learning. Occasional Paper, Carrick institute for Learning and teaching in Higher Education. Accessed 27/03/2008 (http://admin.carrickinstitute.edu.au/dspace/handle/10096/221)

SCALE (2007) 360º survey. South Australian Centre for Leaders in Education.

The following references are from Dr Birgit Loch’s talk.

Loch B. and Reushle S. (2008). The practice of web conferencing: Where are we now? In Hello! Where are we now in the landscape of educational technology? Proceedings of ascilite Melbourne 2008, Nov 30-Dec 3, 562-571. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne08/procs/loch.pdf

Reushle S. and Loch B. (2008). Conducting a Trial of Web Conferencing Software: Why, How and Perceptions from the Coalface. Turkish Online J. for Distance Education 9(3). http://eprints.usq.edu.au/4254/

Loch B. and McDonald C. (2007). Synchronous chat and electronic ink for distance support in mathematics. Innovate 3 (3). http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/00001717/

Loch B. and Donovan D. (2006). Progressive Teaching of Mathematics with Tablet Technology. e-JIST, e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology, Vol. 9 No. 2. http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/00001716/

Loch B. (2005). Tablet Technology in First Year Calculus and Linear Algebra Teaching. Proceedings of Kingfisher DELTA'05, Fraser Island, 22-26 November, 231-237. http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/000000185