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MMath Group Project - MAT00091H

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  • Department: Mathematics
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Christopher Hughes
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

This module will develop your ability to carry out a group investigation of a mathematical topic and to present a clear account of your findings.

The group will produce one report made up of several sections. The first and last sections being jointly-written introduction and summary chapters, bookending sole-author chapters.

Being able to work effectively in a group is an essential part of many walks of life, and this is often true for those engaged in high-level mathematical research. The idea of the mathematician engaged in a lonely struggle for truth does not reflect the reality of research life for many professional mathematicians. It is also largely the case that the sorts of jobs which our graduates tend to go on to involve some group work: mathematicians tend to be employed as parts of a team, and need to develop communication and group working skills to make best use of the expertise and specialist knowledge they have acquired in their degrees.

Related modules

This module is for students on an Integrated Masters programme only.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

This module will develop your ability to carry out a group investigation of a mathematical topic and to present a clear account of your findings.

The group will produce one report made up of several sections. The first and last sections being jointly-written introduction and summary chapters, bookending sole-author chapters.

Being able to work effectively in a group is an essential part of many walks of life, and this is often true for those engaged in high-level mathematical research. The idea of the mathematician engaged in a lonely struggle for truth does not reflect the reality of research life for many professional mathematicians. It is also largely the case that the sorts of jobs which our graduates tend to go on to involve some group work: mathematicians tend to be employed as parts of a team, and need to develop communication and group working skills to make best use of the expertise and specialist knowledge they have acquired in their degrees.

Module learning outcomes

  1. Within a group setting, collaborate in order to produce a coherent piece of written mathematics.

  2. Analyse mathematics encountered in the existing literature, and create a synopsis of mathematics learned over an extended period.

  3. Work effectively in a group, establishing clear communication channels, roles and responsibilities within the group and working together to resolve problems collaboratively;

  4. Be able to use LaTeX in a shared working environment.

  5. Be able to communicate mathematics clearly and concisely, as a longer written narrative and in a shorter visually-appealing form.

Module content

Before the start of the second semester students will be formed into groups of approximately four students who share similar interests, and assigned a supervisor.

In the first meeting, in Week 1 of Semester 2, the supervisor will suggest some topics which are suitable for being split into four (or the number of students in the group) reasonably self-contained sections.

By the end of Week 3 each student should know their area of responsibility.

The students will have weekly meetings to ensure progress is being made. Each meeting should have a chair whose responsibility is to lead the meeting, ensuring it keeps to schedule, and also to facilitate the group in providing feedback to each other. Each meeting should also have a secretary whose job is to ensure accurate minutes of the meeting are kept and shared with all members of the group, including the supervisor. Every student should chair at least one meeting and be the secretary of at least one meeting. Doing so allows you to develop your leadership skills. The supervisor attends five of these meetings to enable him or her to provide expert feedback and advice on their current progress.

For the latter half of the semester, each student will develop some form of a social media post (interpreted loosely to include a YouTube video, or infographic, or a poster) explaining some aspect of their project in an engaging manner to a member of the public - this could either be on the project as a whole, or on their own contribution to the project.

The lectures on LaTeX, study skills, etc, will be delivered online via a cross-module cross-year self-paced training course.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Coursework : Group Project Report - Individual		 N/A 40
Essay/coursework
Social Media post		 N/A 20
Groupwork
Continuous Assessment : Professional Skills and Engagement		 N/A 20
Groupwork
Group Project Report - Whole Group		 N/A 20

Special assessment rules

Other

Additional assessment information

  • Group Project Report (Individual): 40% (Reassessable)
    This will be the mark for their own chapter.

  • Group Project Report (Whole Group): 20% (Non-reassessable)
    This mark will be mainly for the first and last chapter, which are written jointly by all students in the group. A small aspect of this mark will be for how well the whole project reads as a coherent whole. This mark is the same for all members of the group.

  • Professional Skills and Engagement: 20% (Non-reassessable)
    This mark will be for the professional / employability aspects of this module, encompassing the quality of the minutes taken by the student. An aspect of this mark may be for the engagement of the student in the project; this will be determined by the supervisor, informed by feedback from the student’s peers.

  • Social media post on the project: 20% (Reassessable)
    Loosely interpreted as a video. It should be engaging and understandable by an educated member of the public.

  • If a student has a failing module mark, only failed components which are re-assessable can be reassessed.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Group Project Report - Individual		 N/A 40
Essay/coursework
Social Media post		 N/A 20

Module feedback

Current Department policy on feedback is available in the student handbook. Coursework and examinations will be marked and returned in accordance with this policy.

Indicative reading

Departmental web pages about LaTeX and the resources listed there.

Writing Mathematics:

L Gillman, Writing Mathematics Well: a manual for authors, MAA (S 0.149 GIL).

N J Higham, Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences, SIAM. (S 0.149 HIG).

E E Knuth, T Larrabee and P M Roberts, Mathematical Writing, MAA (S0.249 KNU).

S G Krantz, A Primer of Mathematical Writing, American Mathematical Society (S 0.149 KRA


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.