On Tuesday 8th May we were visited by Lucy Rycroft-Smith, a former OU student, who spoke to the academics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics about her work on the Cambridge Mathematics project, including researching and writing mathematics “Espressos”. In her seminar, she talked about how influential the Open University Mathematics Education modules have been in her career.
Lucy Rycroft-Smith (photo credit below).
The Open University
Lucy is no stranger to the Open University as she studied her undergraduate degree in “Mathematics and its Learning” with us and was also an associate lecturer within the School of Mathematics and Statistics.
Lucy said this, about her experience of studying our Mathematics Education modules:
“It is only since starting to work at Cambridge Mathematics and having the extraordinary opportunity to immerse myself in some of the significant and complex issues in maths education that I’ve fully realised how excellent a grounding I got from the OU in this area. I still refer back to course materials that I studied ten years ago; I now have the privilege of conversing with some of the experts that wrote some of the materials. The ideas remain powerful and well structured, and have influenced my thinking on mathematics education in the classroom and beyond. I was delighted to be able to visit the OU recently to discuss Espressos – our filtered research reviews for teachers – and start the process of completing the cycle, of beginning in my own small way to contribute something back to the field and to attempt to pay this debt in some way. The OU Maths Education course planted seeds in my mind that are still growing, and some of which are only coming to fruition now, in the sunny open ground of working collaboratively with world-class experts and the time and space to reflect on my classroom experience. Connecting teachers not only with research, but with researchers and the powerful dialogue that needs to happen between them, is something I’m increasingly passionate about, and the OU has always done this well”.
Lucy was recently a guest on Mr Barton’s podcast and during the interview she spoke* about about her experiences of studying at the Open University and particularly how the “Developing Mathematical Thinking” modules: ME625, ME626 and ME627 helped her grow as a learner and a teacher.
You can listen to the full interview here: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/lucy-rycroft-smith-cambridge-mathematics-setting-times-tables-anxiety/
(*Lucy spoke about the Open University about 13 minutes into the podcast).
Cambridge Mathematics
In her seminar, Lucy talked about the work she and her colleagues have done as part of the Cambridge Mathematics project. According to their manifesto, Cambridge Mathematics aims to secure “a world class mathematics education for all students from 5 –19 years old, applicable to both national and international contexts and based on evidence from research and practice“.
The project aims to support teachers in their planning and teaching by providing a well developed curriculum map, known as the “Framework”, which makes relevant links between mathematical topics from lower primary to upper secondary. The Framework will be a basis for planning curriculum pathways and will be linked to assessment and professional development resources, including examples of effective pedagogies for particular mathematical topics.
Image showing part of the Cambridge Mathematics Framework
You can find out more about the Framework, and other elements of the project here: ttps://www.cambridgemaths.org/manifesto/
Research Espressos
“Educational research is like coffee…It can be invigorating, but only when it’s filtered, fresh and in the right quantity (Otherwise it can be overwhelming, overstimulating, or just leave you bloated and anxious)”
@CambridgeMaths
Cambridge Mathematics aims to support teachers in providing their students with a high quality, research and practice informed, mathematics education but, as Lucy discussed in her talk, there are many barriers to teachers using educational research, including lack of time and being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of existing educational research. In response to this issue, Lucy produces monthly “Espressos” for Cambridge Mathematics. These are “a small but intense draught of filtered research on mathematics education, expressly designed with teachers in mind” .
These “Espressos” are essentially short literature reviews of educational research topics which may be of interest to mathematics teachers in the classroom. Espressos are restricted to one (double sided) page of A4 and are written in accessible language, with busy teachers in mind. Each Espresso includes diagrams and references for further reading. Previous topics covered include: working memory, attainment grouping and effective feedback.
An example of an Espresso
Find out more
You can find out more about Lucy and her work on the Cambridge Mathematics project here: https://www.cambridgemaths.org.
This includes the filtered mathematical research “Espressos” and the Cambridge Mathematics blog “Mathematical Salad”, which Lucy edits.
Mathematical Salad: https://www.cambridgemaths.org/blogs/
Photo of Lucy taken at the Cambridge Mathematics London Conference. March 21 2018 (Matthew Power Photography www.matthewpowerphotography.co.uk
07969 088655 mpowerphoto@yahoo.co.uk)