Recipient
Nickolas Rollick, Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing
Description
The aim of the project is for undergraduate mathematics students to communicate a sophisticated mathematical idea by designing a book in small groups, for younger children, on a course-related mathematical topic of their choice, making that topic both accessible and interesting to this audience. The research goal is to investigate the level of impact these projects have on undergraduate students’ mathematical communication skills, particularly as they apply to communicating mathematical ideas to a non-specialist audience (in this case, an audience of younger children).
This project encourages deep student learning by promoting the application of mathematical ideas in a cross-disciplinary context, by asking mathematics students to produce a children’s literature project. This is a task that students will likely not have encountered before, requiring a deeper synthesis of the underlying mathematical ideas. The project also provides an opportunity to develop transferrable group-work skills, such as collaboration and project management, in a way that is novel to this subject area.
References
McVarish, J. (2009). Artistry in Teaching: Writing Children’s Mathematics Literature
Books as Teacher Education. Journal for Learning Through the Arts, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.21977/D95110034
Ruffell, S. E. & Mayberry, T. (2019). Promoting Science Communication with
Children’s Literature as a High-Impact Practice (HIP) Assessment. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 20(2).
Seawright, L. & Hassan, I. (2016). The STEM Loop: Undergraduate Engineering
Students Create a STEM Children’s Book, presented at ASEE 2016 International Forum, New Orleans.