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Project Support 2018

Establishing Platforms for South African Women in Mathematics-South African Women in Mathematical Sciences Association (SAWMSA), South Africa

This project started on the 06.01.2019 and ended 31.12.2019. This project aimed at establishing platforms for South African women in mathematics to share their mathematics research and inspire young women to become the next generation of scientists. Furthermore, this project aims to link young South African women researchers in mathematics education with suitable mentors in their area of specialization and to build a network of African women in mathematics.

Cross-Pollination of Maths Education Initiative, Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana

The cross-pollination of Maths education initiative started on 01.01.2019 and ended in November 2019. It aimed to provide a platform for maths educators to share insights, ideas, challenges and plans for future initiatives in maths education. A team of international and local undergraduates, postgraduates, lecturers and teaching professionals worked together to develop rich learning experiences to inspire high school students in areas of mathematics beyond their school curricula. The camps are locally funded and have been running successfully since 2011 in Kenya. So far, the initiative spread to Ethiopia (2013) and Ghana (2014) with support from SAMI to bring in international volunteers and to provide contingency funds. In each of these three countries the local organisers now have at least 5 years experience adapting and developing the model for their local environment. The workshop and involvement of more maths educators in the maths camps aimed to generate joint publications from international and African Partners.

Mentoring African Research In Mathematics, MARM

The Mentoring African Research in Mathematics program (MARM) targets mathematical sciences departments in higher education institutions across Africa. MARM links African academics with their UK and European counterparts via professional mentoring partnerships. In doing so, MARM provides the means and opportunities for African mathematicians to develop international working relationships while also improving the quality of academic provision within their home institution.

Within these institutions the program is particularly, but not exclusively, focussed on supporting the development post graduates, for example through PhD supervision. The duration of the current round of MARM partnership grants was from 01.01.2019 - 30.06.2021. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was agreed to delay the start of all four partnerships until November/December 2020.
 
Since November, 2020 a dedicated WordPress blog for each partnership has been set up, to be hosted on the LMS server. These blogs are used to share details of activities undertaken by the partnerships as well as material such as lecture notes, videos of lectures and other related material, similar to Blackboard.

It is expected that the partnership will improve the overall quality of academic standards with the African departments. More information can be found here:

https://www.lms.ac.uk/grants/mentoring-african-research-mathematics

Madagascar Algebra Project 2019-2021, Madagascar

The target groups of the Madagascar algebra project are assistants, PhD students and master students of the University of Antananarivo and other universities of Madagascar, such as the University of Fianarantsoa and the University of Toamasina. The expected total duration of the project is three years (15.07.2019 – 17.09.2021). Each year is divided into 5 modules. Each module lasts 10 hours (two weeks of lectures). The first two years will be dedicated to an introduction to non-associative algebra (Lie algebras, Jordan algebras, Leibniz algebras, Alternative and Malcev algebras). During the third year some specific topics will be discussed in non-associative algebra and their applications.

Open Educational Resources for Statistics Problem-Solving Project, Kenya

The project began on the 02.01.2019 and will last until 30.09.2019. The deliverables from this project are open educational resources that are available freely online (including: documents, presentations, data, links to relevant web pages etc.). The materials would be prepared for use by university lecturers involved in teaching statistics.

Project on Fostering Mathematics Teacher's Ability in Introducing Elementary Algebra, Indonesia

The project will start on 14.03.2019 and ended 14.06.2019. The project aimed at supporting junior high school teachers in the Agam District (one of districts in West Sumatera Province, Indonesia) to improve their teaching and learning processes, particularly in introducing elementary algebra as part of developing student’s algebraic thinking skills. The project was designed as a workshop for mathematics teachers at junior high school levels. The goal of the project was that mathematics teachers are able to provide a beginning look at algebraic thinking skills as part of professional development and be much more aware of student’s algebraic thinking skills.