Log in
The research improved the design and distribution of educational tests and software, textbooks, teaching materials, qualifications, and associated guides and research briefings in mathematics education. The MaLT project test papers have achieved sales of 350,000, with 382 interactive software versions. Some 27,000 certifications have been awarded using the Free Standing Mathematics qualifications. Research has influenced courses designed to aid transition into STEM in higher education, especially 13 programmes in seven universities engaged in a HE STEM funded mathematical modelling project.
"Helping Engineers Learn Mathematics" (HELM) was a sector-wide developmental research project originating at Loughborough University. It impacted on:
a) Teacher awareness and understanding: in a climate of reluctant engagement and poor performance when undergraduate engineering students learn mathematics, the project raised awareness of research-based pedagogic approaches.
b) Teaching and learning practice: new modes of teaching and learning emerged (using HELM workbooks and CAA data banks) which were enthusiastically adopted across the sector.
c) Engineering education policy: policy-makers could see the value of acquiring HELM materials for staff and students to use, with or without adaptation.
A design research programme in mathematics education by The University of Nottingham has been taken up by two powerful US change agents — the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics — as a key element in their strategies to improve the quality of teaching and learning in secondary mathematics classrooms across the US.
Beginning with small-scale design research on diagnostic teaching in mathematics, effective principles for the design of lessons were developed to enable teachers to adapt to students' learning needs. These principles were then engineered into robust products and processes through systematic, closely observed classroom trials.
This case study describes how research at King's College London directly informed the Government's policy to ensure near-universal participation to age 18 in mathematics education within a decade. This research has shown that (i) England's participation in post-16 mathematics is unusually low internationally, and that (ii) mathematical attainment in England has fallen since the 1970s. This evidence has been cited by government ministers as the basis for their decision to change policy on the study of mathematics in post-16 education. Subsequent research into how other countries achieve high participation has informed the content and implementation of the policy.
The MacTutor History of Mathematics Web Archive at the University of St Andrews is one of the most accessed resources worldwide for mathematics and its history. The archive includes detailed biographies of 2740 mathematicians and over 2000 other pages of essays on specific topics and supporting material, presented in a readily searchable form which engages and informs. It has had great influence on popularising and communicating the essence and importance of mathematics, inspiring a broad audience across the world, as well as being a vast educational resource. The site has sustained an average of two million hits per week over the last six years. It has been the basis for college courses worldwide and numerous student and school projects on mathematics and its history, and it has served as a seminal resource for many popular science, reference, and academic books, TV and radio broadcasts and lectures. The Archive continues to grow, with new material continually being researched and added.
Research by the University of Nottingham's Education and Technology for Health team has benefited healthcare students, professionals, users, carers and institutions both in the UK and internationally by establishing a participatory methodology for high-quality, sustainable multimedia Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs). These learning tools are now used in 50 countries globally to facilitate individual access to knowledge, enhance learning within curriculums and deliver continuing professional development, with feedback showing satisfaction of up to 100% in some nations. They are also being used to train healthcare professionals in resource-poor countries, further strengthening the University of Nottingham's role as a global education provider.
This case study describes impact arising from research into designing constructionist tools that provide personalisation, support and guidance to learners and teachers, resulting in software used in several schools, FE colleges and universities world-wide. Constructionist learning is founded on the principle of constructionism which argues for the pedagogical importance of building artefacts as a way of building mental representations. A key computational challenge in the design of tools that foster constructionist learning is to provide intelligent support that guides users towards productive interaction with the tool without constraining its creative potential.
Outcomes of the research conducted at the University of Edinburgh (2001 to 2007) that have had the most far-reaching impact are a strong conceptualisation of the whole learning environment (including curricula, teaching, learning support, and assessment and feedback) and its influence on the quality of undergraduates' learning. What gave these outcomes added resonance was a concern for disciplinary distinctiveness as well as more generic features; an alertness to the pervasive implications for day-to-day teaching-learning practices of mass 21st-century higher education; and a focus on enhancing as well as evaluating the student experience.
The reach of the impact extends to university teachers, middle and senior academic managers, local and national bodies with responsibilities for surveying quality and standards and, albeit less directly, students. Staff in at least 21 universities in 12 countries have used the Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). The National Student Survey questionnaire was influenced by the ETLQ, and has continuing UK-wide impact on teaching through students' retrospective ratings of their experience. Project outputs were directed towards teaching staff through workshops, publications and invited presentations, followed by detailed advice on assessment and feedback of coursework.
Impact in this case study focuses on developing an inclusive culture; changes in academic development programmes; and influencing national policy on inclusive learning and teaching in higher education. While student diversity has increased over the last twenty years or so, teaching methods have changed little in response. This has had a knock-on effect on student engagement and success. Research outlined here has influenced how university teachers reframe their understandings and practices of teaching and engaging diverse students. This work has reshaped continuing professional development in university teaching in the UK and internationally and has influenced national policy on inclusive learning and teaching.
This case study demonstrates clear and significant impact on placement learning in a range of universities, according with the following dimension of impact in REF 2014: `impacts within the higher education sector, including on teaching or students, are included where they extend significantly beyond the submitting HEI' (emphasis in the original). The research focuses on Community Engagement in Political Science Education, undertaken from 2007 by Associate Professor Steven Curtis. Curtis researches and publishes new models of placement learning, the learning and teaching uses of Web 2.0, and more effective approaches to feedback. Curtis's work — involving developing new approaches to the pedagogy of community engagement — enjoys both national and international recognition.