Learning and Engagement at the Intersection of Mathematics and Computing: A Conversation with Celia Hoyles and Richard Noss

This event was held on Thursday 27 February 2020

Celia Hoyles and Richard Noss

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A major change in the educational policy landscape in many countries has been the introduction of computing into the school curriculum, either as part of Mathematics or as a separate subject. This has often happened alongside the establishment of ‘Coding’ in out-of school clubs. In this talk, we will reflect on the situation in England where computing has been a compulsory subject since 2014 for all students from age 7 to 16 years. We will describe the research project, UCL ScratchMaths, designed to introduce students, aged 9-11 years, to both core computational and mathematical ideas. We will discuss the findings of the project, the challenges faced in its implementation and the exciting next steps in the computing/mathematics initiative from a more international perspective.

About our speakers:

Celia Hoyles is Professor of Mathematics Education. She was the U.K. Government's Chief Adviser for Mathematics, 2004-7, and the Director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, 2007 -13. She was the first recipient of International Commission of Mathematics Instruction (ICMI) Hans Freudenthal medal in 2004, and of the UK's Royal Society Kavli Education Medal in 2011. She became an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004, and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.

Richard Noss is the founding director of the London Knowledge Lab, director of the Technology Enhanced Learning Research Programme, and deputy scientific manager of the EU Kaleidoscope network of excellence. Richard holds a PhD in mathematical education. He is an invited Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences. Richard has directed some 20 research projects, authored 120 scholarly articles and six books, including Windows on Mathematical Meanings: Learning Cultures and Computers. His most recent book, Improving Mathematics at Work, questions the mathematical knowledge and skills that matter in the 21st Century, and studies how the use of mathematics in the workplace is evolving in the rapidly-changing context of new technologies and globalisation.