Supporting Flipped Learning In STEM Subjects

During this workshop I will introduce two projects underway in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW Sydney, and demonstrate how they are being used to further develop the quality of education received by students in our first year courses. The first of these projects involves the review and refinement of final exam preparation support. In many first year courses, students receive a (substantial) bank of questions to prepare for their final exams, from which up to two-thirds of their final exam is directly drawn. These questions are primarily questions that had been used in previous terms’ final exams. In 2024 I began a review of the exam question bank for MATH1081 Discrete Mathematics that spanned question content and style, as well as the organisation and delivery of this content for students. I will present the motivation for this review, the progress of this project, and its potential for expansion to other courses.

The second project that I will discuss is the newest iteration of MathVR software. This software was designed to allow students to interact with vectors in 3D space, including the use of vector operations, through virtual reality. This hands-on experience aids the development of student intuition of vector space geometry stronger than the typical use of whiteboards/pen and paper. The latest iteration of MathVR will be incorporated into MATH1141 Higher Mathematics 1A in Term 1 2025, both as a tool for lecturers to introduce students to vector space geometry and for students to solve problems. I will discuss the improvements to the software, demonstrate its use, and describe the logistics of making VR software/hardware available to a large cohort of students. This project has been supported by the Immersive Technologies Team at UNSW.