Case Study: Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses

Audience group: Primary or Elementary, Lower secondary or Middle school

Audience interest level: Receptive, Engaged

Topics: general maths, problem solving

Origins of the Project

The Ri Masterclasses were founded in 1981, on the back of the 1978 Christmas Lectures delivered by mathematician Sir Christopher Zeeman. Zeeman’s Lectures, ‘Mathematics into Pictures’, was the first set ever done in mathematical topics. The BBC, who televised the lectures, had grave reservations at the time about him adding complex mathematical theory and proofs into the lectures. Despite this, Zeeman persevered and his Lectures were extremely well received by the public. As a result, a task force at the Ri was set up to find a way to establish a maths outreach programme and create a legacy for the 1978 Christmas Lectures. The Mathematics Masterclass programme was born from this, and has been running ever since. Initially for year 9 students in London, it soon expanded across the UK and to different age groups. Ever since 1981, we have been striving to maintain Masterclasses as a space where school students can explore complex mathematical concepts in an inclusive but not ‘dumbed down’ way.

The Masterclasses are a course of 6 interactive workshops that run throughout a school term, bringing students together from different schools in communities. The workshops are delivered by volunteer STEM experts from academia, education and industry. Students join Masterclasses because they have an emerging interest in mathematics – our aim is to nurture this interest through fun and challenging activities, develop confidence and signpost to potential futures that include mathematics and other STEM subjects.

Aims and Objectives

The Ri Masterclasses for primary and secondary school students aim to contribute to a positive shift in attitude towards STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects by inspiring and enthusing students, allowing them to investigate a range of ideas and applications.

We are meeting the challenge of inspiring and nurturing young scientific and mathematical talent by:

1. Providing a free STEM enrichment offer to schools and students
2. Providing extended engagement over a course of workshops to engender long-term attitude change and increased confidence
3. Providing hands-on, interactive sessions so students play an active role when learning content
4. Capturing students at an early and critical age
5. Expanding students’ knowledge about the multiplicity of STEM disciplines and the diversity of their applications
6. Providing diverse and positive role models to champion these fields and careers
7. Deepening understanding of jobs and career opportunities
8. Encouraging and developing students’ aptitude and promoting ongoing engagement
9. Demonstrating the relevance, excitement and value of STEM subjects in society, identifying real-world applications as they explore the subjects
10. Enabling students to meet like-minded peers from different schools, backgrounds and local area

Practicalities

Masterclasses are extended outreach activity for school students. Implementation practicalities include:

• Practicalities of coordinating a nationwide network of volunteers:
  1. Fundraising to cover cost of Ri staff, allowing us to develop a UK-wide network of volunteers and collaborators who run Masterclasses in their communities across the UK that are free for schools and families
  2. Managing the programme of volunteers – ensuring we adopt governance best practice (safeguarding and data protection being at the fore); maintaining our volunteers e.g. communicating with and rewarding volunteers; recruitment and training of new volunteers as the programme develops.
• Practicalities of delivering a Masterclass series:
  1. Recruiting school students via schools - developing contacts with mathematics teachers and sending them nomination forms; they then select the students they feel would most benefit from this opportunity
  2. Recruiting and training speakers to lead each workshop – we require the workshops to be interactive with plenty of student-led investigations, and not linked to the school curriculum
  3. Booking a venue that is suitable for accommodating a classroom of school students
  4. Safeguarding and pastoral care of students – arranging supervision of the Masterclasses by someone who is trained at undertaking pastoral and safeguarding duties
  5. Handling the logistics of running each workshop – supporting the speaker and supervisor to ensure all materials are prepared, and ensure a safe and fun experience for all

For Masterclasses, teachers are the ‘gate-keepers’ to our audience of school students. We work with groups across the UK who have built up networks of school contacts for outreach purposes e.g. universities, maths education support networks etc. We also contact schools directly to offer Masterclass opportunities.

To promote Masterclasses to new communities, we spread the word through Royal Institution education newsletter and comms (social media etc). Ri staff also attend education conferences to promote Masterclasses, and we collaborate with other organisations (such as the Ogden Trust). We also make use of membership of professional and education groups (such as the Mathematical Association) and word of mouth.

Accessibility

Accessibility has been built into the Masterclass programme in the following ways:

• Masterclasses are free for schools and families
• We have been running online Masterclasses during the pandemic, and will be continuing this offer to allow students to join who are unable to attend in-person - we recognise that travelling to 6 Masterclass sessions is often a barrier to participation for a variety of reasons
• Many primary Masterclasses are run during school hours and small groups of students are taken by an attending staff member (as they would for any school trip) to the Masterclasses - this removes barriers that families may experience from getting their offspring to Masterclasses every week
• We train speakers in EDIA practices, regarding how they interact with the students, how they present diversity in their material, how they ensure material is accessible
• Masterclass organisers gather information from each student in advance of Masterclasses regarding additional support they might need, and liaise with their parent/career directly and work with speakers and supervisors in the run-up to each workshop to ensure individual needs are met.

Evaluation

Impact is evaluated at the end of each Masterclass series using student questionnaires and evaluation by Ri staff during visits to the series. The Masterclass team uses the data to monitor quality, addressing issues raised about venue, supervision, delivery of the workshops, etc.

There have also been nationwide evaluation programmes and impact assessments undertaken in 2008 and 2018.

We released an Impact Report in 2019, which shows the positive impact of the Masterclass Programme on the students who take part each year.

More information

Ri Masterclasses website: rigb.org/learning/ri-masterclasses