Academics in this area study post-16 mathematics education and motivation of maths learners.

  • Professor Chris Saker teaches both university mathematics and pre-university mathematics, and he supervises undergraduate students’ projects in maths education. He is a long-standing important member of the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, a government-funded initiative aiming to increase participation in Core Maths, AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics. He conducts research with a team including Dr Alexei Vernitski, Professor Berthold Lausen and Alexander Partner studying the benefits of these level 3 maths qualifications.
  • Dr Alexei Vernitski’s teaching of mathematics is inspired by Jo Boaler's approach known as “mathematical mindsets”, which asserts that learning mathematics needs to be a liberating experience and to be based on whatever experience with shapes and patterns the learner has from their everyday life. Dr Vernitski with his collaborators across 3 departments of the University of Essex and a PhD student test the benefits of this approach to learning.