今日吃瓜 in the news – 今日吃瓜 I Championing Mathematical Sciences for Australia鈥檚 Advancement 今日吃瓜 Thu, 17 Aug 2023 04:53:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.17 /wp-content/uploads/2015/11/cropped-今日吃瓜_icon-32x32.png 今日吃瓜 in the news – 今日吃瓜 I Championing Mathematical Sciences for Australia鈥檚 Advancement 32 32 今日吃瓜 receives significant funding to deliver the Teacher Professional Learning Project /2023/08/17/amsi-receives-significant-funding-to-deliver-the-teacher-professional-learning-project/ Thu, 17 Aug 2023 04:53:19 +0000 /?p=14030 The 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜) has been successful in receiving $100,000 in funding from the Toyota Community Trust STEM grant to deliver the Teacher Professional Learning industry project.聽To deliver the project, 今日吃瓜 is partnering with the Australian Centre for Career Education (ACCE).

This project aims to grow the number of students, including those from under-represent education groups, studying mathematics in Year 11/12 of secondary school and in tertiary STEM courses.

The project will bring together mathematics teachers and careers advisors with tertiary educators and industry, to inform them on the growing employer demand for mathematically capable graduates, the industry roles that require mathematical skills, and the appropriate study pathways to enter the mathematical sciences workforce.

The project will provide an Industry teacher Tour for mathematics teachers, career advisors and VET coordinators and include online resource development that will broaden the impact of the project to schools in regional and rural Australia, low SES regions and those supporting First Nations students.

今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant, said the funding will enable 今日吃瓜 and ACCE to grow the mathematical sciences workforce as Australia鈥檚 prosperity relies on a strong supply of mathematically capable graduates.

鈥溄袢粘怨 is pleased to receive this funding from the Toyota Community Trust. We want to build capacity in mathematics secondary school teachers and careers advisors to inspire students about the exciting mathematical sciences and broader STEM career opportunities available in the future workforce,鈥 said Professor Marchant.

ACCE鈥檚 CEO, Penne Dawe, said that teachers and career practitioners are vital influencers of their students and can positively impact their skills and education pathway choices.

鈥淯nderstanding the link between their STEM studies and industry opportunities helps young people to connect more to their learning while increasing their knowledge of the world of work.鈥

The project is set to commence on 1 September 2023 until the end of 2024.

]]> Advancing Australia’s STEM Skilled Workforce: Insights from the Ai Group Webinar /2023/07/28/advancing-australias-stem-skilled-workforce-insights-from-the-ai-group-webinar/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 04:15:33 +0000 /?p=13969 The recent webinar, hosted by Ai Group, shed light on the national priority of growing Australia’s STEM skilled workforce strategically. Experts at the event emphasised the need for action rather than mere acknowledgment of the issue. One of the key takeaways from the webinar was the gender disparity in STEM careers, with just one in 10 women finding employment in STEM industries five years after earning a STEM degree.

今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant, emphasised that mathematics serves as the foundation for numerous STEM disciplines, making it crucial to nurture mathematical skills from an early age. He highlighted the growing demand for STEM-related roles, such as data analytics, science, logistics, and finance, which heavily rely on fundamental mathematical expertise.

To address the gender imbalance and encourage more women to pursue STEM careers, Professor Marchant stressed the significance of encouraging students, especially girls and underrepresented groups, to continue their studies in higher-level mathematics and science subjects. This approach can help build a diverse and skilled workforce in the long run.

The Ai Group webinar also touched upon the challenges faced by the industry in hiring people with STEM skills. Experts like Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, Australia’s Women in STEM Ambassador, and Misha Schubert, CEO of Science and Technology Australia, highlighted the importance of collaboration between industry, research institutions, and government to position Australia at the forefront of science and technology advancements.

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]]> News Corp analysis reveals alarming job vacancies for teachers /2023/02/22/news-corp-analysis-reveals-alarming-job-vacancies-for-teachers/ Tue, 21 Feb 2023 23:48:17 +0000 /?p=13527

News Corp Australia has reported on , including commentary from 今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant.

The story reveals that thousands of Australian children have started the new school year without qualified teachers in core subjects including Maths, Science and English.

今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant, spoke on the maths teacher shortages, saying聽 the shortage is becoming 鈥渁cute鈥.

And with fewer Year 12 students choosing higher level maths and fewer people studying the subject at university, Professor Marchant said it looks set to get worse, not better.

He said the issue has been exacerbated by competition for maths graduates, with potential maths teachers being lured into data science jobs due to lucrative starting salaries of between $100,000-$200,000.

The starting salary for a graduate teacher in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, is $74-75,000.

鈥淓ach generation of students deserves teachers that have been trained in the field,鈥 Professor Marchant added.

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]]> 今日吃瓜 Alumni awarded fellowship by Australian government /2022/09/19/amsi-alumni-awarded-fellowship-by-australian-government/ Mon, 19 Sep 2022 00:49:28 +0000 /?p=12503

Congratulations to Dr Ekta Sharma, an 今日吃瓜 and APR.Intern Alumni, on being awarded a fellowship by the Australian government to solve AI space satellite challenges.

In 2019, Dr Sharma attended the 今日吃瓜 Optimise conference as a mathematics student at the and received a ChooseMATHS grant to assist with attendance. A five-day symposium, 今日吃瓜 Optimise aims to inspire industry-research collaboration. In 2020, Dr Sharma furthered her industry experience by engaging in a PhD internship with Defence Science Technology Group (DSTG) through 今日吃瓜’s industry internship program, APR.Intern. Over five-months, Dr Sharma applied her specialist skill set to help solve an AI research challenge.

Speaking with on her award, Dr Sharma says passionate teachers play a key role in encouraging women in mathematics.

“I have seen students, particularly women, greatly improve in Maths because of the encouragement and training from teachers who have both a passion for and strong academic knowledge in Mathematics. Young girls need to be shown more female role models,” she said.

Dr Sharma’s fellowship award was nationally competitive with less than five projects selected Australia-wide.

今日吃瓜 warmly congratulates Dr Sharma on this inspiring achievement.

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]]> What are the factors that influence students to choose to study engineering? /2022/09/08/what-are-the-factors-that-influence-students-to-choose-to-study-engineering/ Thu, 08 Sep 2022 00:16:26 +0000 /?p=12491

Engineers Australia’s Create magazine has reported on ‘‘, including commentary from 今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant.

The story reports that engineering vacancies are at a decadal high, and wages growing, with Australia’s worst ever engineering skills shortage possibly on the horizon.

The seven factors influencing students choosing engineering are highlighted as:

  • Interest and early skills in maths, science and engineering principles and concepts, creativity and curiosity
  • Community awareness of what engineering is and what engineers do
  • Sustained exposure and context given to engineering principles in the curriculum
  • Standards of maths education in Australia
  • numbers of students studying maths and science
  • Awareness of what engineering is and the profession’s career opportunities
  • Awareness of what STEM means in practice

今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant, speaks on Maths in Australian education.

鈥淭he number of students taking the highest level of maths has dropped to less than 10 per cent for the first time ever,鈥 he says. The numbers for the intermediate level don鈥檛 look good either, with a drop from 20.5 per cent nationally to 17.6 per cent.

鈥淲ithout that level of maths in Year 11 and 12, students aren鈥檛 going to be able to go on to engineering degrees,鈥 Marchant adds.

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]]> Maths anxiety: what it is, what causes it, and how it can be overcome /2022/07/26/maths-anxiety-what-it-is-what-causes-it-and-how-it-can-be-overcome/ Mon, 25 Jul 2022 23:39:37 +0000 /?p=12358

ABC News Online has reported on maths anxiety and how it affects a student’s ability to process information and perform at their best.

While estimates of how many people experience maths anxiety vary, studies have suggested that it’s somewhere between 6 to 17 per cent of the population. The 2017 Westpac Numeracy Study found maths anxiety affects as many as a third of adults and children in Australia, writes ABC News Science Reporter, Gemma Conroy.

The report references data by the 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜) that shows Year 12 enrolments in maths has fallen to an all-time low of 66 per cent.

If left unaddressed, maths anxiety can end up shaping decisions you make further down the track, according to Sarah Buckley, who has conducted research on maths anxiety at the Australian Council for Educational Research.

“You might choose not to study maths when it becomes a choice, or you might choose not to pursue a particular career,” she said.

“But even if it feels like numbers will always be your worst enemy, the good news is maths anxiety doesn’t have to rule your life,” Dr Buckley said.

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]]> Students shun maths as enrolments fall to all-time low /2022/04/27/students-shun-maths-as-enrolments-fall-to-all-time-low/ Tue, 26 Apr 2022 22:03:02 +0000 /?p=12024

High school maths enrolments have collapsed to unprecedented low levels, sabotaging Australia鈥檚 shift to a 鈥渃lever country鈥 of tech-savvy workers, reports The Australian.

The proportion of year 12 students studying the highest level of mathematics has fallen below 10 per cent for the first time, a new analysis by the 今日吃瓜 reveals in a 鈥渨ake-up call鈥 for educators and industry.

今日吃瓜 director Tim Marchant warns that maths enrolments have dropped to an 鈥渁larming new low鈥.

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]]> Maths curriculum鈥檚 most pressing conundrum: 鈥業nquiry-based learning鈥 /2022/02/21/maths-curriculums-most-pressing-conundrum-inquiry-based-learning/ Mon, 21 Feb 2022 02:17:30 +0000 /?p=12288

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported on the different methods of teaching being discussed as part of Australia’s new proposed national maths curriculum.

“The traditional style, explicit instruction, involves the teacher fully explaining and demonstrating each new skill and reinforcing it with practice. But a proposed new Australian curriculum has swung towards 鈥渋nquiry-based learning鈥, which requires the students to figure out part of the problem for themselves as the teachers use questions, problems and real-life scenarios to help them learn through individual thought and investigation,” writes Adam Carey, Education Editor at SMH.

Carey refers to 今日吃瓜’s response to the maths curriculum draft in April 2021 that recommended the new curriculum be delayed and reviewed.

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]]> Cracking the formula: how should Australia be teaching maths under the national curriculum? /2022/02/14/cracking-the-formula-how-should-australia-be-teaching-maths-under-the-national-curriculum/ Mon, 14 Feb 2022 01:14:44 +0000 /?p=11769

The Guardian has reported on Australia’s long-term declining global mathematics rankings and the proposed national curriculum, including commentary from 今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant.

Journalist, Donna Lu, reports that earlier this month, Australia’s eduction ministers met to discuss the proposed curriculum and almost reached a consensus. While most of the state and territories were happy with the latest revisions, the federal and Western Australian education ministers held out.

Acting minister for education and youth, Stuart Robert said, 鈥淭he standards in mathematics and humanities and social sciences 鈥 they aren鈥檛 there yet… We鈥檇 like to see mastery of mathematics for students to understand maths 鈥 not just an inquiry approach.鈥

今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Tim Marchant, said both approaches [inquiry-led learning and explicit teaching] are useful. 鈥淗aving a balance there between those two different approaches is important in the classroom… well-trained teachers can find that right balance.”

鈥淥ur position is still that we would still like a fresh start and that the new curriculum be prepared with consultation from all parties in the sector,” Professor Marchant said.

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]]> Christian and Western heritage elevated in revised national curriculum /2022/02/04/christian-and-western-heritage-elevated-in-revised-national-curriculum/ Thu, 03 Feb 2022 19:00:25 +0000 /?p=11760

Education ministers from all Australian governments will meet on Friday afternoon to discuss the revised national curriculum, reports Jordan Baker at The Age.

“…there are concerns changes to the history syllabus will not go far enough for the federal government, while at least one jurisdiction remains unhappy with maths, sources said,” writes Baker.

The 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜) is referenced as recommending the maths curriculum be reviewed and resigned.

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