VIP details

Semester 1, 2024/25

tdhc

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the VIP on ‘Creating accessible online mathematics and statstics resources’!

My name is Tom and here are my contact details:

  • Office location: Room 220, Mathematical Institute
  • Email: tdhc@st-andrews.ac.uk

My office policy is open-door: if my door is open, please feel free to drop in!

VIP administration

Events

  • VIP welcome event on Tuesday 17 September (Week 1) from 1100-1300

  • Online Reflective writing workshop on Friday 27th September (Week 2) from 1300-1430 (sign-up link to follow)

  • VIP conference in Week 9 or 10.

Resources

Link to download reflective log template

Link to University Moodle pages

The VIP has £400 budget, and students (that’s you) can apply for more. All ideas for spend should come through me.

Assessment pattern

This VIP has the following assessment pattern.

  • Fortnightly reflective logs in Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (20%)
  • Group presentations in the meeting in Week 9 (30%)
  • Portfolio of work and final report, due Saturday 7 December (50%)

You will be assessed on the 20-point scale for each of these components relative to your year.

Your final grade will be the weighted average of all of these components.

Assessment: Fortnightly logs (20%)

The deadline for each fortnightly log is Friday 12 noon in odd numbered weeks. Please email these to me before then.

I will be providing formative feedback after the Week 3 and Week 7 reflective logs, which will consist of comments about your reflective logs.

Each fortnightly log will be rated on the 20-point scale, with an average mark over the five fortnightly logs reported as your final mark for the 20%. Only the final grade (at the end of the semester) is needed to be made public.

VIP event: Online Reflective writing workshop on Friday 27th September (Week 2) from 1300-1430 (sign-up link to follow from central VIP team)

Assessment: Group presentation (30%)

The group presentation will consist of a printed or interactive poster and a 10-minute oral presentation on that poster. It will take place in the Week 9 meeting.

Assessment: Portfolio and final report (50%)

The deadline for submission of the portfolio of works and final reflective report is Saturday 7 December, which is the first day of the revision diet.

The project

The website

STARMAST (St Andrews Resources in Mathematics and Statistics)

https://tdhc153.github.io/starmast

The tasks

Create content: study guides, questions, answers, proof sheets, fact sheets, general interest articles, interactive web content (flash cards, posters, etc), video and audio guides…

Develop impact: website management, workflow optimization, development and management of accessibility tools, social media strategies, outreach to the public, search engine optimization…

Creating content

(aka the bit I know how to do)

  • Quality, not quantity. Materials are going to be publicly available. Only the best goes up.

  • Follow the style guide to the letter. The website must be written in a consistent style with the guides that are already there.

  • The amount of work will vary on a sliding scale depending on your credits and year. You will write at least one guide, one question set, one answer set.

  • Other than that, you can let your mind run free!

Develop impact

(aka the bit I don’t know how to do)

  • Website management (workflow, hosting, domain name)

  • Accessibility research and development

  • Social media management

    • Instagram/X accounts already made
  • Analytics data, search engine optimisation

How?

The website is written using Quarto (a markup language using R as a base), with version control using Github. You can use whichever code editor you so desire, but I strongly recommend using RStudio. Please make sure you download RStudio, R, and set up a github account.

The repository can be found at https://github.com/tdhc153/starmast.

This is a link to the README file.

Any questions?

Come and see me in room 220 or email me :)