Involving students in creating maths and stats resources
starmast.org
2025-07-02
About me
Lecturer (Education Focused) at the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews
passionate about language and accessibility in mathematics and statistics
enjoys cricket, coffee, and crosswords
contact me at tdhc@st-andrews.ac.uk
Problem
need for accessible and inclusive maths/stats resources
traditional textbooks can be difficult to parse for non-specialists, technically inaccessible, expensive, intimidating…
pandemic: sudden shift to online resources for self-study, inconsistent standards in pre-university education, no library access…
diverse backgrounds: every country has their own curriculum, language; Masters courses attract wide backgrounds of students…
Solution
creating a free-to-use, high-quality bank of inclusive and technically accessible learning resources in mathematics and statistics, suitable for everyone
- in addition involving students gives learners agency in their resource creation, teaches transferable skills not often found in maths and stats degrees, obtains diverse perspectives on learning…
end product: STARMAST (starmast.org) - St Andrews Resources in Mathematics and Statistics
How? (1/2)
inclusive: strict guide on use of language (‘you’ not ‘we’, nothing easy, simple terms, minimal jargon, avoid context), emphasis on doing
accessible: available for use by all users
- accessible html, printable pdf, editable Word documents provided for all guides via Quarto
- mp3 narrations provided for all guides
How? (2/2)
free-to-use: available anywhere at any time, with no cost
granular: for each topic
- study guide: explains the key concepts, contains many examples (and usually interactive figures, Desmos/R Shiny), quick-check problems at the end
- question sheet and answer sheet
[also other resources such as fact and proof sheets]
Mechanism: VIP (1/2)
Vertically Integrated Project:
multi-year, multi-semester ongoing research project (with some leeway)
students in any year can apply
awards module credits, and students get a grade for their work
allows students to participate in the same project across multiple years
Mechanism: VIP (2/2)
our VIP:
small group, weekly meetings, hands-on supervisor involvement
attracting wide range of students
- mathematicians, statisticians, economists, cell biologists, computer scientists, art historians…
- from first-years to final years
assessment: 20% fortnightly reflective logs, 30% posters and group presentation, 50% final portfolio and reflective report
VIP inputs from students
website backend: domain name, security, search engine optimisation, hosting, custom website style, cookies, analytics, feedback boxes, emails, mailing list, progress trackers…
branding and marketing: colour scheme, logo, outreach plans, social media, ads and posters…
accessibility work: automatic narration of guides, interactive figures (flow-chart for hypothesis testing), built-in graphical calculators (desmos)…
content: guides on algebra, geometry, calculus, stats…
What’s gone well?
outstanding range of outputs
excellent student buy-in to an impactful and meaningful project
high student satisfaction, both with writing and usage
good integration of interdisciplinary skills
What could be better?
time for quality control
potential duplication of assessment modes for returning students
some student group friction
Future plans
more content
- 35+ guides hopefully by end of summer (and then more than that), videos, podcasts, more interactivity…
get the site out there!
- market inside the University and outside the University (conferences, maths support networks :), schools, libraries…)
soon-ish: reflective article on the project
way off in the distance: impact funding
How to keep in touch
check us out at starmast.org :) where you can join our mailing list, or leave comments on individual guides
contact me at tdhc@st-andrews.ac.uk: any ideas, feedback, comments, most welcome :)
thank you for listening!
