Maths Hangouts 2021: count on some mad maths to get you through

The University of Wolverhampton has launched a free, self-paced online maths course to help students sharpen their maths skills and to appreciate some of the weird and wonderful applications of maths in the real world.

The Maths Hangout Course has been funded by Aspire to HE - a partnership made up of the University of Wolverhampton, seven local further education colleges and 39 schools across the Black Country and Telford and Wrekin.

The free online course is aimed at anyone wishing to fine tune their maths skills to a level comparable with GCSE maths. There are sections mapped to the school curricula as well as extra sections emphasising application of familiar maths in unfamiliar places.

The course has been designed and developed by the University's School of Mathematics and Computer Science staff members Liam Naughton, Abigail Parkes, Jordan Brennan, Elouise Foster and Emily Rodden.

Dr Liam Naughton said: “This year we went for something a little bit different with Maths Hangouts where we tried to put an emphasis on applying fundamental maths to problems in the real world. That’s why we have developed specialist sections dealing with things like the Fibonacci numbers and the lifecycle of the periodic cicada.

"Seeing maths in action helps learners to grasp the importance of these fundamental concepts. There are eleven sections on fundamentals and six application sections. With the current situation regarding lockdowns and exams, students still need to keep their maths skills sharp for their future studies and this course will help them to do that. Aspire to HE were extremely supportive of the idea and we hope that students will find the course useful.”

For any queries about the Maths Hangout Course please contact Liam Naughton by email: l.naughton@wlv.ac.uk or sign up to the course here: https://wlv.eu-west.catalog.canvaslms.com/browse/maths/courses/maths-hangouts

Aspire to HE is part of the Uni Connect programme and is funded by the Office for Students. Uni Connect is a national network of hubs across England which offer impartial advice, guidance and activities on the benefits and realities of higher education in college and university.