Case Study: Sheffield Hallam University Girls in Maths day
Organisations involved: Sheffield Hallam University
Case study written by: Claire Ketnor and Angharad Ugonna
Intended audience: Girls in years 9-10 from the local area
Maths content: Various (including Cryptography and Mathematical Modelling)
Audience group: Lower secondary or Middle school, Upper secondary or High school
Audience interest level: Uninterested, Receptive, Engaged
Topics: Codes and cryptography, Mathematical Modelling
Origins of the Project
Significantly fewer girls than boys choose to take A-level Maths (FMSP, 2016). The Girls in Maths day aims to inspire more girls to take Maths beyond GCSE level. It’s an outreach event for up to 100 girls from local secondary schools. It is run at least once a year by staff and student ambassadors from the BSc Mathematics course at Sheffield Hallam University.
Practicalities
The university’s outreach team send out adverts to local schools to promote the event. Typically each school involved brings around 15 girls in year 9 or 10.
The day consists of the following:
- An introduction;
- A Modelling workshop;
- A cryptography workshop;
- A mini campus tour by a student ambassador;
- Lunch whilst playing games from the Maths Arcade;
- An inspirational talk by an external speaker.
Throughout the day, there are opportunities for students to become inspired by the subject and have their confidence boosted.
Evidence and Recommendations
The following comments and results are from the evaluation of the January 2019 Girls in Maths day. When asked within a survey at the end of the day, 93% of the pupils said they enjoyed the event. When asked what they thought of the day, words used by the pupils included “engaging”, “enjoyable”, “interesting” and “inspiring”. Other comments included the following:
- “Eyeopening”
- “Maths isn’t as boring as I thought”
- “Changed my mind about uni”
- “Allowed me to think of the future”
- “Made me like maths more”
23% of the pupils said that they planned to study A-level Maths before the Girls in Maths day, whereas 53% of the pupils said at the end of the day that they would consider it. Due to most pupils being in Year 9 and the first Girls in Maths day being in 2018, it’s too early to see whether there has been any effect on A-level choices.
A reason provided by one of the teachers for bringing pupils to the event was “to inspire them to continue onto higher education”. Other comments from teachers included that the event was “good to promote maths to girls”, “a good idea to create interest” and “inspiring”.
Having student ambassadors involved is a great opportunity for the secondary school pupils to have conversations with current students. Having a mini campus tour is well received as it gives the girls the opportunity to see some of the facilities whilst having a break from the activities, and breaking up the day into smaller activities helps to keep the attention of the pupils.