The School Mathematics Project was an iconic project from the 60s which started at the University of Southampton. Quite recently, the archive and copyright of these iconic materials returned to our university. We have initiated several projects which are based on the materials.
ESRC impact project
This ESRC impact project will explore whether and how we can revive these quality resources and explore how we can transform SMP into an SMP 2.0. The project has four aims. First, it will map and digitise key parts of the archive. Second, it will map the archive against the current KS3 and KS4 curriculum. Third, it will collect and evaluate views on the SMP materials. Finally, these three aims will then culminate in a feasibility report. Is it feasible to breathe new life in the original project, and create new versions of the textbooks, integrating a firm research component. The project is collaboration between the Southampton Education School, three schools in the region, and the Mathematics department. The project will have substantial user engagement, genuine collaboration and co-design with classroom practitioners. Principal Investigator is Dr. Christian Bokhove.
SMP interactive
Information seminar recording from 17/01: https://youtu.be/sq_6kcWW_mA
Please email ben.davies@soton.ac.uk with any questions
he Interactive School Mathematics Project (SMP) focuses on developing online interactive workbooks for secondary school mathematics. These workbooks will be adaptations of the existing SMP archive and are a collaboration between the Southampton Education School, Department of Mathematics, and 10+ secondary school teachers from the local area.
These interactive workbooks will be written in STACK, a dynamic modern software allowing developers to code ‘potential response trees’ based on student input. You can read about the recent use of STACK in similar contexts here and here. You can also see a handful of examples on the demo server here (but you’ll have to make an account! It only takes 1 minute!). Finally, you can learn more about the software here.
This project is running from January to July 2023 and is supported by the Higher Education Innovation Funding via the Faculty of Social Sciences Funds for Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise, University of Southampton (total funding awarded: £25,000).
Here is a presentation Prof Bokhove did:
Mathematics in Transit
In Spring 2022 we conducted the ‘Mathematics in Transit’ project. In this project a team of teachers and researchers from post-16 schools, the Southampton Education School and the School of Mathematics, explored curriculum materials to find the topic that would be most helped with a supporting booklet. The most useful topic was ‘proof’. This booklet is aimed at students interested in learning more about proof and different types of proof. In this booklet, we go through what is a proof, how to construct a proof, and different types/methods of proof. Click the cover page to download the PDF file of the book.
The booklet has made use of the extensive SMP archives at the University of Southampton and is accompanied by a website with the solutions to the exercises provided here: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/mshe/solutions-mit-proof-booklet/
Christian Bokhove – Southampton Education School, University of Southampton
Athina Thoma – Southampton Education School, University of Southampton
David Gammack – School of Mathematics, University of Southampton
Lu Heng Sunny Yu – School of Mathematics, University of Southampton
Sarah Roberts – Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh
Frances Downey – St Edward’s School, Poole
1st edition. July 2022.
Bridging GCSE maths to A-level physics
This was a booklet created during a work experience session at the Southampton Education School. Access the booklet here.