Royal Society project in mathematics education

Cathy Smith (PI), Vinay Kathotia (Co-I), and collaborators have been successful in their £25,000 bid to the Royal Society for the research project The intersection of mathematics, computing, statistics, and data science as part of the Mathematical Futures programme.

The Mathematical Futures programme was launched in February 2020 and seeks to answer two core questions:

• What mathematical competences will be needed by citizens to thrive in the future?
• How should education systems develop these mathematical competences?

The present project will investigate

• the competencies needed around the intersection of mathematics, data science, statistics and computing, and
• curricular models that could support these competencies and the benefits, barriers and adaptations entailed by these models.

The Open University work will contribute to a new vision of mathematics education that anticipates and supports the future role of mathematics for individuals and society, strengthening diversity and reducing inequity.