Education Resources
The education resources highlighted here showcase a series of outputs from various ongoing scholarship research projects within SEMS that focus on addressing prominent EDI issues as part of the Queen Mary Principles of Inclusive Curriculum. These can also be accessed internally by QMUL staff through the newly created SEMS EDI Committee QMPlus course page (login required).
1. Making diversity 'count': inclusivity in STEM curricula
The profiles of past and present diverse individuals provided below form part of an ongoing scholarship research initiative to diversify STEM curricula being undertaken by Dr Rehan Shah (supported by undergraduate student researchers, Ava Dahlia Belafonte and Allegra Celesia) in SEMS in collaboration with Prof Claudia Garetto from the School of Mathematical Sciences at QMUL. These are designed to increase students’ awareness of diverse representation and provide positive role models through exposure to mathematicians, scientists, and engineers from under-represented backgrounds (such as female, disabled or LGBTQ+) and non-traditional pathways in academia and industry.
The STEM Champions Diversification Booklet (PDF) for academic educators contains short biographies of around 90 STEM Champions who are often overlooked when discussing the history of mathematics, science or engineering or who are more representative of what many professionals in these areas look like today.
Poster Presentations for this project have also been disseminated at the QMUL Festival of Education (PDF)(won Best Innovation poster award), and as QMUL's entry for the Posters in Parliament (PDF) event. The Queen Mary Academy case study documents the impact thus far, with the work also having been nominated for the QMUL Education Excellence Award and President and Principal’s Prize in 2024. The work has also been presented at the CAISE Inclusive Scholarship Workshop (PDF), UK-wide History for Diversity in Mathematics Network Workshop (PDF) and the QMCUR QMUL Undergraduate Research Showcase (PDF).
Examples of co-created posters designed by students and implemented in SEMS mathematics modules:
- EMS412 biographical posters (PDF) (first-year module)
- EMS506 biographical posters (PDF) (second-year module)
If you have any suggestions on how to improve these resources or if you would like to suggest other possible additions following implementation, please contact Dr Shah on rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk
2. Embedding ethics and sustainability in mathematics modules
The mathematical toolkit provided below for academic educators is designed to raise ethical and sustainability awareness and imbibe transferable skills among undergraduate students in STEM disciplines as part of an ongoing scholarship research initiative undertaken by Dr Rehan Shah from QMUL with external collaborators from the University of Cambridge's Ethics in Mathematics project. Some of the mathematical content in the exercises below was inspired by actual tutorial sheet questions from the Mathematical Tripos course taught at the University of Cambridge.
In addition to traditional mathematical content, the exercise questions in this toolkit also contain an ethical/sustainability component to each problem, and in order to solve the problem fully, students need to take into account these aspects and consider it as part of their solution. “Solutions” to as many of these exercises as possible have been provided in the toolkit for academic educators. These include both a full exposition of the mathematical component of the question, as well as a discussion and incorporation of these wider societal issues that are embedded in the question, which can serve as useful points for further discussion in the classroom.
The work has also been presented at the Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship Conference (PDF), Reflective Teaching Workshop Series at the University of Kent (PDF) and the UCL Teaching in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Seminar (PDF).
This toolkit resource comprises:
- a sustainability introduction poster (PDF) designed for students and staff that explains why there is a need for sustainability in mathematics (co-created by undergraduate student researchers Malmi Hirushima Mahagamage and Meherun Soud)
- an ethics introductory handout (PDF) designed for students and staff that explains why there is a need for ethics in mathematics
- a comprehensive teaching booklet (PDF) featuring exercises, projects and handouts for embedding ethics in mathematics-based modules within STEM disciplines
- a set of sample 'sustainability in mathematics' exercise problems (PDF) (with guided solutions (ZIP))
- a set of sample 'ethics in mathematics' exercise problems (PDF) (with guided solutions (ZIP))
- a guidance article on embedding sustainability in mathematics modules (PDF) (featuring in the Engineering Professors Council Sustainability Toolkit)
If you have any suggestions on how to improve these resources or if you would like to suggest other possible additions following implementation, please contact Dr Shah on rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk
3. 'Squashing bugs not snakes': developing students’ programming proficiency through co-creation of a Python toolkit
In response to student feedback from previous runs of the first-year undergraduate SEMS mathematics module, Dr Rehan Shah in conjunction with three former students (Mr Muhie Sultan Faisal Al Haimus, Mr Yash Vaghela and Mr Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy) from his modules, have co-created a Python Common Errors and Practice Questions toolkit guide to help new incoming first-year students, who may need additional guidance and support with Python within their undergraduate mathematics modules, particularly those with no previous programming experience.
The Common Errors toolkit serves as a supplementary resource for students to use alongside their existing Python tutorials on Jupyterhub and documents the standard errors that students most often make, along with ways to rectify these. This is supplemented by a set of additional practice questions and Python exercises (with solutions) to give students a chance to hone and refine their basic programming skills.
The work has been presented at the QMCUR QMUL Undergraduate Research Showcase (PDF).
If you have any suggestions on how to improve these resources or if you would like to suggest other possible additions following implementation, please contact Dr Shah on rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk