Our Education Strategy action plan contains targets and highlights areas to develop. Some plans are necessarily longer term, and some are subject to funding, but we have already implemented a number of improvements.
Make classes more interactive
You asked if you could do group work in the first year classes rather than just going through the exercises. Now, we have changed the MA100 and MA103 class format to include in-class assessments and group work respectively.
Meet the Department and our research
You asked us for more opportunities to meet students and staff in the Department. We listened and now host the Women in Mathematics seminar, staff/student coffee mornings, CGO research seminars (which undergraduates are welcome to attend) and end of term parties.
Provide enhanced information on courses
You asked us for more information about the courses that you choose for your 2nd and 3rd year options. Course choice films were made available for all UG and MSc options, and in addition we run course choice meetings to explain the possibilities and their implications in Spring Term.
Maths Support Centre
You asked for more support with the core courses. We extended the Maths Support Centre hours to 2-4pm every weekday, and now have Maths Peer Study Advisers in addition to staff and class teachers helping you learn.
PPD Seminar- MA160P
You asked for personal and professional skills development. We introduced the MA160P first year seminar series which teaches you new study skills, how to get the job you want, and other tools to help you succeed in you future career.
Provide more study and social space
You asked for spaces in the Department to study and relax. We found space in COL.2.01 for an undergraduate common room and in COL.2.12 for an MSc common room. We anticipate being able to find more space once we move to our new building!
Social events for Mathematics students
You asked for more social events for students. In addition to our Welcome Week and end of term events, we provide funding for the Maths Social Committee to organise events for you - if you have a great idea for an event, please contact or join the Maths Social Committee!
Offer a wider variety of courses
You asked for more options in the third year and at MSc level. We recently introduced MA324 Mathematical Modelling and Simulation, MA330 Game Theory for Collective Decisions, MA333 Optimisation for Machine Learning and MA334 Dissertation in Mathematics at the undergraduate level; and MA435 Machine Learning in Financial Mathematics at the MSc level. In addition, we redeveloped MA408 Topics in Discrete Mathematics, MA420 Topics in Financial Mathematics, and MA421 Topics in Algorithms. We routinely modernise our offering and expect to update this list again in the next couple of years.
Additional feedback
You often ask us to improve aspects of your study here via the Staff-Student Liaison Committee. You can see how we responded in the minutes on your Moodle page. If you have strong feelings about anything else we can improve, please contact or join the SSLC Reps!