{"id":373,"date":"2019-10-02T16:05:16","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T15:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/MathEd\/?p=373"},"modified":"2019-10-02T16:05:16","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T15:05:16","slug":"school-maths-conference-at-the-ou-a-levels-dragon-races-and-codes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/MathEd\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/school-maths-conference-at-the-ou-a-levels-dragon-races-and-codes\/","title":{"rendered":"School Maths Conference at the OU \u2013 A-levels, Dragon Races and Codes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Would is a sixth-form work experience student who visited the Maths and Stats department of the OU and supported the School Maths Conference. This is her report.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In July the OU ran a maths conference in conjunction with some local secondary maths teachers. The first day gave the 25 or so year 11s that turned up a brief introduction to some of what is covered in the year 12 A-level maths syllabus. This would have been a really beneficial experience for the year 11s, as it means the content will be less new in the first term and easier to understand.<\/p>\n

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We started off with surds and indices, the basis of all good algebra and geometry, and moved through quadratics, trigonometry and vectors giving the students the grounding in the core maths that\u2019s needed throughout the A-level. The students got on really well, both with the work and together across different schools with new people.<\/p>\n

The students were shown examples and then set tasks in a work book, while me and the other teachers went around offering advice and hints to the students when required and talking to them about their A-level options. I was able to share my experience at A-level with the students, which I hope was helpful, and also some of the things I\u2019ve learnt from my A-level. Advice such as completing the exercises or keep your graphical calculator on you sounds like a teacher is being fussy but coming from another student presently doing their A-levels can actually be more compulsive. I was also interested to hear their thoughts on GCSEs, especially with the new content and grades that came in last year, although they haven\u2019t received results back yet so this conversation went only so far.<\/p>\n

I was also encouraged to offer more general A-level advice, and the students I spoke to seemed to appreciate these extra tips \u2013 I certainly would have done had I known them before entering year 12. These included:<\/p>\n