Involving students in creating maths and stats resources

TEMSE seminar

Tom Coleman

2025-10-08

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 and proposed solution

Problem

need for accessible and inclusive maths/stats resources

• traditional textbooks can be difficult to parse for non-specialists, technically inaccessible, expensive, intimidating…

• diverse backgrounds: every country has their own curriculum, language; Masters courses attract wide backgrounds of students…

• lack of local support: minimal central maths/stats support at institution

• increased need for competency in maths/stats

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

Original vision for resources

Original vision: inclusive

want materials to be inclusive of all learners

• strict guide on use of language (‘you’ not ‘we’, nothing easy, simple terms, minimal jargon, avoid context), emphasis on doing

  • polemic written, inspired by British Dyslexic Association style guide

List of banned words on starmast.org

Original vision: accessibility

want to cater for wide range of learning styles, while retaining technical accessibility

• Quarto is a typesetting system that outputs to html, pdf, docx from a single content file:

  • accessible html, printable pdf, editable Word documents provided for all materials

Top of Guide: Arithmetic on complex numbers

Original vision: freedom of use

want resources to be available anywhere at any time to anyone, with no cost (an open educational resource)

• website, CC licensed, meeting UN Sustainable Development Goal 4

Excerpt from starmast.org licensing page

Original vision: granular

• study guide: explains the key concepts, contains many examples, quick-check problems at the end, no more than 12 pages of pdf output for focus
• question sheet and answer sheet
• other resources such as fact, proof, overview sheets

• Full index
• Quick check questions

Excerpt from starmast.org full index

Excerpt from Guide: Introduction to quadratic equations

Getting students involved part 1: STEP

First go: STEP project

Summer Teams Enterprise Programme

• online programme over 7 weeks, 4-6 hours work each week
• reward is certificate on transcript
• teams of 6-7 students, with one paid graduate student acting as ‘coach’
• students applied for programme overall, putting projects as first/second choice

STARMAST STEP project

• ran summer of 2023, aiming for release September 2023
• enough interest for two teams of 7 students each producing 12 guides between them, working in smaller teams or individually
  • topics included rearranging equations, sigma notation, indices and logarithms, trigonometry, vectors
• one graduate coach
• set up via github containing initial style guide, example guide, questions, answers

Result

partial success

yes!

• all requested resources created
• students satisfied with impactful work
• framework for expansion in place

 

but

• inconsistent quality, including plenty of banned words
• some parts missing
• some over-complications

What went right?

for me

• something to work with!
• plenty of questions and answers
• basis for expansion
• lots of student interest

 

for students

• important and impactful project
• good opportunity for transferable skills
• won something(?) at STEP awards

What went wrong?

for me

• no control over student selection
• disconnected from project
• dissatisfied with outputs, took time to put things right

 

for students

• little time to communicate with me
• long time to see publication (website published and made public May 2024)
• teamwork aspect diluted by online programme

Getting students involved part 2: VIP

Second go: VIP

Vertically Integrated Project:

• multi-year, multi-semester ongoing research project (with some leeway)

• students in any year can apply to single projects

• awards module credits, and students get a grade for their work

• allows students to participate in the same project across multiple years

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

Why VIP improved on STEP

for me

• full control over student selection
• collaboration with students, rather than sponsorship of students
• get to teach something out of my comfort zone :)

 

for students

• time to communicate with supervisor to float new ideas and understand minor project concerns
• module credits (as opposed to a certificate)
• chance to be part of a tight-knit team

What could be better?

• quality of written outputs can be inconsistent (but far far better than STEP project)

  • increased staff time for quality control

• potential duplication of assessment modes for returning students

• some student group friction (solution: team building in week 2)

What’s gone well?

• time for project to breathe and for a team to form

• nature of VIP allows for development of big ideas across semesters and years

• excellent student buy-in to an impactful and meaningful project

• high student satisfaction, both with those who create the resources and those who use the resources

• good integration of interdisciplinary skills

• outstanding range of outputs

VIP outputs from students

• interactive figures: using Desmos API, R Shiny, and (soon) html - leveraging generative AI to help

• Desmos
• R Shiny 1
• R Shiny 2
• html

Desmos figure from Guide: Introduction to partial differentiation, written by a fourth-year student

R Shiny figure from Factsheet: Normal distribution, written by a first-year student

R Shiny interactive figure from Guide: Introduction to hypothesis testing, written by a fourth-year student

html interactive figure from draft of Guide: Introduction to matrices, written by a fourth-year student

VIP outputs from students

• content: guides on algebra, geometry, calculus, stats…

• accessibility work: discussions with disability charities, investigating multiple Quarto themes, mp3 narration of guides

Top of Guide: Arithmetic on complex numbers

VIP outputs from students

• branding and marketing: colour scheme, logo, outreach plans, social media, ads and posters…

• Brandkit
• Insta
• P1
• P2
• Ad

Initial STARMAST brandkit

Insta post for new study guide

Digital impact poster

Annotated guide poster

Ad

VIP outputs from students

• website backend: domain name, security, search engine optimisation, hosting, custom website style, cookies, analytics, feedback boxes, emails, mailing list, progress trackers…

Feedback box written by a second-year and final year student

Now and next

Now

• resources used in three Schools in the University, with more to follow

• awareness of resources increasing due to promotion by student support services

  • supported by analytics data (129 new users in the past 30 days, compared to 374 all time since May 2024)

• students working on content for topics specifically requested by academic staff at St Andrews

• thinking about how best to present content

Next (1/2)

• more content

  • 50+ topics hopefully by end of summer 2026 (and then more than that), videos, podcasts, more interactivity…

• get the site out there!

  • keep marketing inside and outside the University (emails to DoT’s/student services, conferences, maths/stats support networks, schools, libraries…)

Next (2/2)

• soon-ish: reflective article on student involvement

  • Involving students in creating accessible mathematics and statistics support resources using a Vertically Integrated Project, in preparation

• way off in the distance: research/education development leave for the project, measuring impact of resources, impact funding/case study

How to keep in touch

• check us out at starmast.org :) where you can join our mailing list, or leave comments on individual guides

• follow us on instagram @starmast_

• contact me at tdhc@st-andrews.ac.uk: any ideas, feedback, comments, most welcome :)

 

thank you for listening!