The Maths Revision Problem

Mathematics is a fundamental building block in UNSW degrees, including all programs in engineering, business, and science. One could conclude that if you want to excel in your university program, you need to learn and apply mathematics. 

Sometimes, however, remembering fundamental mathematics and statistics is hard. Revision (aka a refresher) is the simplest and most effective way to polish your maths and stats skills and ensure you are ready to take on more advanced study and excel in those courses.  

The School of Mathematics and Statistics, as part of its commitment to supporting mathematics and statistics learning across the university, is helping to solve the problem of how to revise. It’s designing a range of interactive, self-paced modules to support students across all relevant UNSW degree programs. 

Utilising the UNSW platform Möbius, the School of Mathematics & Statistics is rolling out an effective tool in mathematics recall – First-Year Revision Modules – with a recently completed pilot program targeting two courses with a combined total of over 1000 enrolled students. 

The modules were envisioned and designed by two senior UNSW maths academics, Dr Bill Ellis and Dr Alan McCarthy, with the help of fellow UNSW maths academic, Dr Nicholas Coxon. They’re challenging students to ask themselves: How would you rate your skills in Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations or Statistics? Could you benefit from a refresher?

According to Dr McCarthy, while all students benefit from revision, not all students do it. He’d like any student doing maths or stats in their degree program to have access to good revision modules to support their study. The goal, he explains, is to help students refresh their core maths and stats skills, and to "help convenors in supporting their students to feel confident with course pre-requisite knowledge” by providing interactive support instead of static materials, which he says, “we know are not as effective, and many students tend not to use.” 

Dr Ellis expands on this, saying, “We’d like course convenors to say to their students; if you don’t remember a particular concept, you can look up a specially designed module that will curate a set of steps that you need to practice. The bonus is the modules provide active platform learning, rather than a passive set of notes that come with a lecture.” 

The First-Year Revision Modules project has received backing from a UNSW Faculty of Science Education Innovation grant, and further financial support directly from the UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics. 

According to the Head of School, Professor Andrew Francis, “It’s important to support achievable projects that make a difference to core maths and stats teaching and learning outcomes, and these modules do that.” 

Starting with the basics – algebra, geometry, calculus, and differential equations – the First-Year Revision Modules support students at second year (and beyond) who have completed Maths 1A and 1B by providing them with the opportunity to renew the skills they learned in their first-year subjects. 

“We know,” explains Dr McCarthy, “that active problem-solving builds mathematical fluency, reduces cognitive load, and improves test performance. We also know that most degrees and jobs depend on these core maths and stats skills.” 

The bigger picture for Drs Ellis and McCarthy is to expand the offering of First-Year Revision Modules to all UNSW programs that have maths and stats requirements. They are offering to partner with course convenors across the Faculties of Engineering, Business, Science, and beyond, to design targeted (and convenor editable) UNSW Möbius maths revision modules tailored to their subjects. 

Sample First-Year Revision Modules Images

Find out more today!

For Students: If you feel you would benefit from the inclusion of the First-Year Revision Modules in your course, reach out to your convenor to ask about having them added to your course. 

For Convenors: To discuss creating a suite of targeted revision modules for your course, Dr Bill Ellis and Dr Alan McCarthy.