Suki Honey
I have been an associate lecturer with the OU since 2003. During that time, I have been a tutor on ME620, as well as ME624 ME820, ME825.
As well as being an AL for the OU, I also work full time for Plymouth University. I was a mathematics lecturer on the BEd and PGCE primary ITE programmes for 10 years, and recently took up the post of researcher in pedagogy.
Prior to working with Plymouth University and the OU, I taught mathematics at various secondary schools in Plymouth, Cardiff and Tring. As much as I love working with adults in HE, I really miss the younger students. They have such a wonderful outlook on life and mathematics that it keeps me on my toes. They also make excellent participants in my research, and I’m currently working with some amazing girls and young women on their experiences of being maths learners. I’m also still closely involved with the use of graphics calculators (which was the main focus of my PhD thesis), and take every opportunity to run workshops for pupils.
When I’m not working (that fleeting moment just after I finish marking ECAs), I can usually be found sitting cross-legged doing some mathematical origami or deeply engrossed with my nose in a book, cup of tea and some custard creams always close by.
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Nick Constantine
Hello everyone, I am Nick Constantine associate lecturer for the Open University, I tutor on ME627, 620 and 625, I also tutor on MU123 and tutored on MST124. I have been working with the OU for 4 years now but I also used to tutor on the PGCE course from 2000-2002. I have had a very mixed career. My first degree was Astronomy and Astrophysics at Newcastle University, I then joined the Royal Navy as aircrew for a little while. I left way back in 1989 and did several ‘gap’ jobs before retraining as a Mathematics teacher and PE teacher.
My teaching career followed the standard path up to Deputy Head/acting Head but I always attended many mathematics training weekends with the ATM, SMILE(showing my age) and SMP 16-19,(definitely showing my age), I also used to attend the MEI further mathematics conference in Nottingham for a few years. I was a Head of Mathematics in a 13-19 high school in Northumberland from 1998-2004, and enjoyed the process of organising and planning activities that reflected the fundamental philosophy of the OU ME(x) modules.
I also studied for a Master’s in Education from 2000-2002, one of my dissertations was ‘conjecture and proof in the most able’ (ME822), I really enjoyed designing my own research project and had a wonderful class to try some tasks with. For me, if you can change the language of the mathematics in the classroom from a didactic controlling language to an atmosphere of questioning, conjecturing with learners and investigating relationships then you are really at the top of your game!
I now work part time as a teacher and OU lecturer. I also work as a running and yoga coach and operate a small business where I organise retreats and workshops for private groups in Europe and in Scotland. Other hobbies are reading, radio 6 music, cooking and doing Maths problems!
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Barbara Allen
My school teaching career was in middle schools in Worcestershire where I specialised in mathematics. I developed an interest in girls’ attitudes to mathematics and that became the focus of the dissertation for my MEd. My PhD focuses on Pupils’ Perceptions of Mathematics Classrooms and found the ways that pupils think they learn most effectively.
In 1994, I moved to the Open University as a Research Fellow and in 2000 I became the Director of the Centre for Mathematics Education. I continued as the Lead Academic for Mathematics Education until my retirement in May 2017.
I have written on a large number of OU modules from Access to Masters Level. For some reason, I always ended up writing the sections on fractions!
I am the co-author of the children’s book series The Spark Files and the writer of the children’s radio series The Mudds starring Bernard Cribbins and Mark Benton. Now available on iTunes!!
My main hobby has always been playing the clarinet. I play in Bewdley Concert Band and also play alto saxophone in the Wyre Forest Big Band. Now that I am retired, I am learning to play the xylophone and threatening to learn the drums. I also volunteer at Bewdley Museum and work with school groups that are learning about WWII.
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Harry Gretton
Hi, I am Harry Gretton and, at present, a tutor on ME625 and other “M” courses. I have been an OU tutor since the Open University began! and have tutored continually on many varied “M,T and E” courses.
In parallel with this I worked for Sheffield Hallam University for even more years teaching mathematics, statistics and computing to a wide diversity of students and many different levels. Throughout this I have always being particularly interested in “what is doing mathematics now that technology is here”. https://www.gretton.net/Papers/ATCMA161.pdf and the way mathematical skills are assessed.
The changes in the teaching and use of mathematics will always continue since “Some Mathematics becomes more important because technology requires it. Some Mathematics becomes less important because technology replaces it. Some Mathematics becomes possible because technology allows it” Bert Waits – 2000.
I used to play squash and rugby to a reasonable level but have retired due to some physical reconstruction. Since retiring from Sheffield Hallam University I fill my spare time? looking after a small holding and doing regular grand parenting duties. …
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Sue Forsythe
I have always liked solving maths puzzles and nowadays I am a fan of killer Sudoku. My Saturday morning routine is to solve the futoshiki and the killer Sudoku in the Guardian newspaper. I also like getting my hands on a good kakuru.
Mathematics in Art is another passion. I especially enjoy studying designs with symmetry in them. Symmetry appreciation is a human attribute which even babies partake in. Ask me for the reference sometime.
I also like playing the bass recorder in a recorder ensemble, knitting and occasionally creating a bit of craftwork. A sense of symmetry underlies both music and art and craft.
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Gerard Hayes
Hello everyone,
I have been a tutor on all ME modules since their inception. I have also tutored ME830 and ME831, and the residential school MEXR624.
Previously I have taught maths in secondary schools. I was appointed as an Advanced Skills Teacher prior in to moving into advisory work then teacher education and training most recently on the secondary maths PGCE at Edge Hill university.
My degrees were all obtained as a part time student while working full time, one was with the Open University.
My main hobbies are singing and operating as a volunteer at Lyme Park with the National Trust.
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Charlotte Webb
Before moving to the Open University, I was a secondary mathematics teacher in Bristol, Oxford and most recently in Madrid. I have also worked with primary and secondary aged children through delivering workshops and masterclasses with the Royal Institution and at Bletchley Park.
My Master’s degree in Mathematics Education looked at the way children use proof and reasoning in mathematics. I am interested in the way teachers can work with children to support them in becoming mathematicians and thinking mathematically, through using the ideas in our modules, such as conjecturing and convincing, within the classroom.
Alongside mathematics, I love painting, drawing and all things arts and craft. I am particularly happy when maths and art come together, for example in M. C. Escher’s tessellation pictures. I have just started an Islamic geometry art course, which I am excited to share with you in a blog post soon!
In my free time, when not getting crafty, I love to travel and enjoy seeing live music and comedy – the Edinburgh Fringe festival is one of my favourite places to be. I also have a miniature sausage dog called Ronnie!
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Jeffrey Goodwin
As well as being an Associate Lecturer for ME627, I also tutor on ME620 and ME626. I first worked as a tutor for the OU in the 1980s on EM235 Developing Mathematical Thinking and returned to my current role of Association Lecturer in September 2014.
I was a classroom teacher for 10 years, working in Secondary and Middle schools. I moved into the advisory service in 1980 as Head of the Hertfordshire Mathematics Centre. I worked in Initial Teacher Training and running CPD courses for teachers; being head of mathematics education at Anglia Polytechnic University. For four years from 1986, I worked for the National Curriculum Council on a curriculum development project: Primary Initiatives in Mathematics Education (PrIME). I have always had an interest in assessment and testing and in 1998 was appointed to establish and lead the Mathematics Test Development Team at the QCA. We developed the end of key stage tests and other optional tests for all three key stages. I was in this role for eight years and then moved to research when I was Head of Research at Edexcel and then Pearson Research and Assessment. In 2010, I became an independent consultant and worked with schools on making changes, particularly engaging with Japanese Lesson Study. For four years I was the Programme Director for the King’s College London MaST course.
I have seen it as important to make a professional contribution to education. This has involved being Secretary of the Mathematical Association, a member of the Royal Society Mathematics Education Committee and Chair of the coordinating committee for Primary Mathematics Year 1988. I have also been chair of governors of a primary school.
I have two main research interests: the role that Lesson Study plays in the profession development of teachers; and, a member of the research team at the UCL Institute of Education looking at The Nature, Prevalence and Effectiveness of Strategies used to Prepare Pupils for Key Stage 2 Mathematics Tests, a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
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Angie McConnell
I’m Angie McConnell and I am currently a tutor on ME620 and ME625. I have been an OU tutor since 2005.
However, my connection with the OU stretches back a very long way – my first degree was from Liverpool University then in 1978 I started an OU degree and followed that with an MSc with the OU – all in Mathematics so I do understand what it is like to be an OU student. I taught for 10 years in a Secondary school then for 30 years in an FE college teaching a wide range of students but always Mathematics. The classes I loved were adult students, many of whom had a genuine fear of mathematics, and I am proud to say I converted many a ‘I hate maths’ student to an ‘it’s all right this maths stuff isn’t it?’ student.
In my spare time I love to travel and explore new places and countries and there’s usually an opportunity to do some maths. Sitting next to a young girl on a train in a remote part of Thailand I realised that she was struggling with her maths homework on quadratic equation. I offered to help and between us we sorted it. She spoke very little English and I speak even less Thai, but mathematics is a universal language.
I have two cats who are very helpful when it comes to marking TMAs and EMAs and love to walk across the keyboard as I am typing so if your feedback is returned with strange typos blame the cats.
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Pete Kelly
I have been a mathematics education tutor with the OU since 2013, and teach on all four of the Mathematics education modules. I have also studied with the OU myself, and so understand some of the challenges part-time distance-learning students face. As well as teaching with the OU, I am Reader in Comparative Education at Plymouth University. I am particularly interested in understanding mathematics classrooms, and have been lucky enough to travel to countries across Europe to compare how mathematics is taught. Before moving into higher education, I spent fifteen years working in primary and middle schools in London and South West England including five years as a deputy head and five as a head teacher.
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Wendy Troy
I tutor on both ME626 and ME627 modules, both since their inception. I have also tutored ME620 and ME830, and the residential school MEXR624, now sadly stopped.
Previously I have taught maths in secondary schools and a further education college. I then moved into advisory work then teacher education and training most recently on the secondary maths PGCE at IOE London and Goldsmiths.
My first degree was in Economics, my MA in Psychology of Education and later I gained an Honours Maths degree with the Open University.
The History of Maths is one of my enthusiasms together with maths from all over the world.
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Tom Cowan
I have been an Associate Lecturer with the OU since 2008 when I worked on the MEXR624 summer school each year in Bath. When that ended I was lucky enough to be offered a chance to work on ME625 which led to tutoring on all the 4 modules which we offer in the Mathematics Education suite of modules at Level 3 and also working on the Masters module ME825.
I completed my Master’s Degree with the OU in 2010 so remember what it was like to study at a distance and cramming in study whilst jugging other things in life.
My full-time role is as the Programme Lead of an initial teacher education programme at the University of Plymouth. I support the education and development of new Primary teachers on the BEd and PGCE – looking after those students with a specialism in mathematics. Prior to this I was primarily involved with working with Secondary and Primary schools to support them with mathematics in challenging inner-city schools around Manchester and Salford.
I’ve never really left education and have found my next challenge in aiming to complete my Doctorate in Education in 2022! Hopefully I’m well on my way to becoming Dr. Cowan!
When I have some spare time, I enjoy going to the theatre, supporting Liverpool FC and Widnes RLFC and work as an officer with the Boy’s Brigade which keeps me in touch with further voluntary work (I did say spare time right?)
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Cathy Smith
I started as a secondary mathematics teacher in Hertfordshire and Suffolk, where my Head of Department noticed that my name could be anagrammed as itchy maths. I embraced this by moving roles within education, while always keeping a central interest in maths itself.
I have worked in the field of mathematics teacher education since 1993, in Cambridge, London and now at the Open University. My professional and research interests lie in participation in advanced mathematics, and teaching for an inclusive mathematics.
My PhD was a poststructural analysis of the discourses of mathematics and further mathematics. I have been involved with British Society for Research in Learning Mathematics, the Further Mathematics Support Programme, and am a member of both MA and ATM. Outside of work I like singing and making things (knitting, lace, Lego), sometimes simultaneously.
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Jim Thorpe
I became a mathematics teacher through the accident of joining Bill Brookes’ PGCE course: suddenly I realised that much mathematical thinking could emerge from humble beginnings, numerical or geometrical, and realised that mathematics could make a major contribution to the intellectual and social development of adolescents if they were encouraged to function as young mathematicians within what John Mason calls a ‘conjecturing atmosphere.’
I have been committed to mathematics education for a long time, in the secondary classroom and then in a variety of ways supporting the work of mathematics teachers. My current occupation is mainly tutoring in mathematics and education, mathematics, and engineering for the Open University.
I am alarmed by much of what I see under the heading of teaching mathematics but remain unrepentant in proposing something richer than the all-too-frequent ‘training’ metaphor of communicating mathematics.