Student Internships
The aims of our student internship programme are:
- To provide undergraduates with an opportunity to engage in research activity linked to principles of mathematics and statistics support in HEI.
- To develop effective, working collaborations between colleagues in sigma-sw initiated by the work carried out by students during the summer internship and leading to a research portfolio within sigma-sw.
The projects we are running this year are:
- Investigating the online presence of mathematics and statistics support (Exeter, Oliver Bond)
- Measuring the effectiveness of mathematics support services (Cardiff, Matthew Taylor)
- What do drop-in usage statistics tell us? (Plymouth, Callum Anderson)
- Helping students learn how to learn mathematics at university (Bath, Andrew Kennedy)
Investigating the online presence of mathematics and statistics support
Oliver Bond, University of Exeter
My name is Oliver Bond and I am studying mathematics at the University of Exeter. I am a student representative with the SSLC there and I thoroughly enjoy being able to explain mathematical ideas to other people as well as providing resources to help other students. I am participating in the Sigma project and am investigating the presence of online resources for mathematics and statistics support.
Presentation (.ppt)
Measuring the effectiveness of mathematics support services
Matthew Taylor, Cardiff University
Hi my name is Matthew Taylor. I’ve just completed my second year studying BA German & Mathematics at Cardiff University and will be studying abroad in Heidelberg, Germany next year as part of the Erasmus program. I’m originally from Greater Manchester and have a wide variety of interests including sports, music, languages, literature and science. Having always been more proficient in pure Mathematics, the challenge of taking part in this project really excited me and I have thoroughly enjoyed applying my mathematical knowledge to a practical real-world problem. The project has also given me a great insight into what mathematical research has to offer as a future career.
Presentation (.pptx, with embedded YouTube videos)
What do Drop-In usage statistics tell us?
Callum Anderson, University of Plymouth
Hi, I'm Callum Anderson and I have just finished my second year at the University of Plymouth studying Mathematics and Statistics. I am working on a project which involves compiling a database of "Mathematical Drop-In Centre" statistics to then study. I will in particular be looking for patterns which may explain which students use the service, when they use it and why they use it. Hopefully the results will show how useful this type of service is for the students and encourage universities to continue the service or start one if they haven't already.
Presentation (.ppt)
Helping students learn how to learn mathematics at university
Andrew Kennedy, University of Bath
Hi, my name is Andrew Kennedy and I've just completed my second year studying mathematics at the University of Bath. I have been involved with maintaining the website for MASH (Maths and Statistics Help) at Bath for nearly a year now, and am enjoying the opportunity to use my knowledge of building websites to create a new resource which will hopefully help new maths students. I'm aiming to build an online guide to help maths students to think about the different ways they can go about their studies.
Presentation (.ppt)