Junior Maths Enrichment
Pioneering student teacher development through Junior Mathematics Enrichment
This experiential and community engaged opportunity connects with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- 4 - Quality Education
- 10 - Reduced Inequalities
- 17 - Partnership for the Goals
NUI Galway Professor of Mathematics Dr Aisling Mc McCluskey has pioneered and created innovative learning opportunities for her undergraduate students to engage with young people in the wider community. Over five years ago, Aisling saw an opportunity to create a programme that would harness the enjoyment of mathematics among young people within the local Galway community whilst promoting the development of student teachers of mathematics. Aisling noticed there were very few extra-curricular opportunities for young people with an interest in mathematics, compared to opportunities offered in sport, drama, music, art and so forth.
“These students got the chance go to the university, work with lecturers, college students and like-minded peers on mathematics in a relaxed, non-exam situation. They were praised and encouraged in their explorations of mathematics. What an opportunity at such an impressionable age!
In 2016, she established the Junior Mathematics Enrichment (JME) initiative at NUI Galway that works with local 2nd and 3rd year junior cycle students (13 to 15 year olds) who have a passion and enthusiasm for mathematics. JME was set up as a weekly set of activities in the form of a 90-minute problem-solving session, with undergraduate students as mentors/tutors on campus at NUI Galway. The aim of the sessions was to promote a wider perspective on the role of mathematics in life and society, to develop problem-solving skills and to create an environment centred on the enjoyment of discovery and investigation amongst the student tutors and pupils alike.
The initiative was piloted in 2016, with seven schools invited to nominate six students who were chosen in a competitive process. In the pilot, thirteen 1st year Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Education (BME) students were trained to interact with and lead forty-two pupils in an informed and engaging way. The JME initiative expanded in 2017, working with young people from 18 schools and also including now 1st and 2nd year BME students to undertake training to become tutors. In 2018, JME invited all fifty Galway county secondary schools to participate. In this round, 24 BME students from 1st to 3rd year were trained to tutor 135 secondary school students, with a further 70+ on a reserve list. In 2020, another 130 pupils enrolled for the programme with thirty-four trained BME tutors.
Every year feedback is gathered from both the young people and their teachers to look at the impact of the initiative. The feedback collected from the participating schools has been overwhelmingly positive. The teachers have indicated that JME has improved the pupils’ confidence both inside and outside the classroom; has helped the pupils to excel in other mathematical competitions and activities; the engagement has encouraged self-directed learning and problem-solving among the young people participating whilst also enabling them to grow in confidence in their abilities.
“….My school was very fortunate to be one of the initial schools to be accepted into this programme. The impact of the programme speaks for itself. Our pupils engaged themselves more in self-directed learning as a consequence of this initiative. Those same pupils grew in stature among our community - not alone for their improved mathematical problem-solving prowess but particularly for their increased sense of self-worth – which was clearly visible in the demonstration of their improved communicating skills."
The impact on the development of the student teachers as tutors has been hugely encouraging with skills as expositors, teachers, learners and leaders being nurtured and developed. During the training the BME students are encouraged to manage and lead a project, enhance individual problem-solving skills, develop communication and presentation skills, and to develop professionalism. In turn, this development benefits society as it is the basis for high quality mathematics teachers going into the education system.
“….The core and nonnegotiable aspect of a successful JME session, and of a high quality teacher of mathematics, is the quality and timeliness of response, intervention, encouragement and explanation given by the BME mentors to their younger charges. This underscores how demanding the JME programme is for its mentors – they must be mathematically so secure in their own knowledge and understanding that they can listen to a pupil’s potentially different yet correct viewpoint and give correct and appropriate feedback. It is all too easy for a mentor (or other) to bluff when confronted with a ‘solution’ from a ‘bright pupil’ particularly when it is a way of thinking that has not occurred to the mentor, rather than have the confidence to break down the solution either until understanding dawns or else a potential error emerges. These are the skills that we want our teachers of mathematics to learn, to develop and to apply, so that they become outstanding teachers and leaders in their school communities.”
Aisling McCluskley, 2020
Feedback from students and teachers.....
“Thank you very much for taking us on this incredible journey by your side and challenging us as young teachers, it's an amazing experience that I have enjoyed thoroughly thus far."
“I want to thank you for all the work you've done for us in order to prepare us for this JME module. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the JME sessions and working with the young people. I particularly loved presenting in front of the group at the board. I feel that I have benefited greatly from it. I also have to say that I am utterly devastated that we will not be continuing with the sessions just as soon as we were getting stuck into it. However these are circumstances beyond our control. So, I must say that I am truly looking forward to next year's JME sessions and I look forward to giving it my all next year.”
I only wish I could offer the same opportunity to all of my students.
…Such was the experience of our pupils in the pilot phase that they all sought to return in the two subsequent rounds. Across the board, our pupils were invigorated, excited, more confident in their abilities – and it rubbed off on those around them. Our all-female school has a proud tradition of producing notable women in the mathematical sciences, one of whom was Sheila Tinney. At the celebration of Sheila Tinney’s life and work at NUI Galway in 2018, Dr. McCluskey invited our pupils to attend the function and to present an account of their JME experience to a room full of high-ranking professors and academics. The girls prepared a powerpoint presentation which was received with huge admiration by all present. What an empowering experience for girls at such an impressionable age – we were and are very proud of them!
I cannot overstate the significance and the effect of the JME experience on our pupils. As a teacher of mathematics, I admire and applaud the effort of Dr. McCluskey in not only providing a quality experience for pupils but in tirelessly seizing the opportunity to provide rich professional development for the tutors who are students on a professional teaching programme. The holistic nature of the entire JME enterprise on so many levels is clear…
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