About

ABOUT THIS BLOG

‘Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.’ E.B. White

I wonder a lot about mathematics teaching.

• I wonder how my students learn.
• I wonder how to best help my students learn.
• I wonder how to help others to best help their students learn.

I wonder often how to orient students towards the creative, active and collaborative ways in which professional mathematicians work.

I also wonder a lot at mathematics—its beauty; its interconnectedness.

The world of mathematics is filled with a lot of wonders!

ABOUT ME

I am an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of South Australia (UniSA).

I started at UniSA as an undergraduate student, and never left (except for one semester overseas). I completed a PhD in Operations Research at UniSA, while also taking my first steps in teaching and in outreach. Some of this story is told in my maths autobiography.

Now, my main teaching and outreach interests are (1) developing mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills in students, particularly pre-service mathematics teachers (2) enlarging students’ abilities to include effective communication, teamwork, and other skills that support their mathematical work. In July 2017 I began a Master of Teaching (Secondary) at UniSA to better ground myself in educational theory and practice.

Broadly, the other half of my academic life is mathematical research. I focus mainly on practical industry-inspired challenges, mostly in railways, although I am not a train buff! I explained some of my research using only the most common ‘ten hundred’ words in this post. You can also watch the video from #SciPubMath at the bottom of this post.

My research is funded by industry and through Australian Research Council grants. My academic papers are listed on Google Scholar. You can also look around my academic web page.

You can tweet me at @nomad_penguin.