1. Mathematics Support for Students on Vocational Courses By Susan Starkings London South Bank University

2. The Skills Unit Team Manager- Susan Starkings Academic Staff- Catherine Boyle - Plus 50-70 HPL’s - IT & Library academic staff Administrators- Ahmed Mohamed (F/T) - Dhurium Kurcuku (P/T)

3. Responsibilities Manage the Academic & Admin staff, conduct appraisals, recruitment of new staff etc. Develop new & innovative ways of providing service to LSBU students Manage budgets of p/t teaching hours and operational budget of Pre-Study English course Organise programmes of support for students Manage quality assurance Ensure that the unit complies with QAA requirements, & HEFCE guidelines

4. Responsibilities Training and mentoring of academic & support staff Scholarship & research Teaching/academic/professional activities Updating academic knowledge & education initiatives Be active in LSBU central processes e.g. validations and projects ( e.g. Change Academy Project) Develop teaching materials

5. SWOT – Strengths of the Skills Unit Established unit within LDC & LSBU (since 1998) and grown significantly since then. Service19982004-05 Fast Track U/G 06-80350 Fast Track P/G - 65 Fast Track Clearing - New Course Pre-Study English -100 Moving –On - 98 Maths for Social Workers25 Foundation4061 Maths Support238975 Study Skills3421533 English -3577

6. Strengths of the Skills Unit (con’t) Experienced Academic staff with expertise in Maths, Statistics, English, Study Skills & Communications & IT Classes/support provided at Essex & Southwark campuses Student centred teaching Run a good informal staff development programme Teaching resources on web and in teaching room

7. SWOT – Weaknesses of Skills Unit Lack of office space in Caxton House Room usage for support classes - shared Limited access for disabled students Lack of IT equipment in teaching rooms Turn over of staff Training & mentoring takes up a lot of time

8. SWOT - Opportunities  Widening Participation agenda just keeps growing  Increase usage levels by students  Greater/closer working with the IT/Library staff

9. SWOT - Threats Faculties wanting to do their own thing Academic Staff moving to other institutions or LSBU faculties

10. PGCE/ITT Questions Number of marks available Mental arithmetic12 marks (12mins) Interpreting and using statistical information 7marks Using and applying general arithmetic 9 marks Test is timed 48 minutes. 36 minutes for the 16 longer questions. The total marks 28 and the pass mark is 60% i.e. candidates must get at least 17 marks to pass. For the numeracy test an on-screen calculator is available for use on all questions except the mental arithmetic section.

11. Example Mental Arithmetic Questions 1. The entrance fee for an exhibition is three pounds seventy five. What will be the total entrance fee for a school party of 50 pupils? 2. Two-fifths of a class of twenty-five pupils were girls. What percentage were boys? 3. All 300 Year 11 pupils in a school took GCSE English. The number of pupils gaining grade C or above increased from 85% in the mock exam to 93% in the actual exam. How many more pupils gained grade C or above in the actual exam than in the mock exam?

12. Example Longer Questions

13. Numeracy Test Questions Using the information given, indicate which of the following are true: a quarter of the pupils achieved a result of at least 50% in both the practical and theory components half of the pupils achieved a result of at least 50% in the practical component the two pupils with the lowest marks in the practical component also had the lowest marks in the theory component Answer....................

14. Example Business Studies Increasing by a Percentage Suppose we want to increase 200 by 10% We get 10% of 200 (the increase) and add this to 200. A quicker way is to multiply 200 by 1.2 i.e. 200 x 1.2 = 240 but why 1.2? 20% as a fraction is 0.2 so we want to increase the original number by a faction 0.2 i.e. we want the original number + 0.2 of the original number. This is altogether 1.2 of the original number or the original number x 1.2. As a formula: New value = Old value (1 + %increase/100)

15. Example Nursing

16. Maths for Social Workers The following are the expenditures for a department for 2004: Monthly expenditure for 2004 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Amount(£) 227 254 212 227 220 236 254 234 543 545 550 652 (a) Display this information graphically (b) What is the average expenditure for the year? (c) Comment on the years expenditure for this department and its possible future expenditure. ( 10 marks)

17. Maths for Social Workers As a social worker you will be expected to complete expenses clams. During December you incurred the following expenses, which you need to claim for: Attendance at court incurred travelling 53 miles round trip. Train fare to Plymouth £64. Overnight accommodation in Plymouth cost £49.95.

18. Maths for Social Workers Lunch in Plymouth cost £8.90 General travelling to visit clients 247 miles. Mileage allowance is 32 pence per mile. What is the total cost of expenses for December that you will claim back? ( 6 marks)

19. Summary Keep pool of staff able to teach at the level required (i.e. Pre-entry to Postgraduate) Administration & Organisation increases as the ‘service’ expands Running all year has holiday issues Funding Teaching materials Quotes: ‘I do appreciate what the tutors did for me’ ‘The best aspect of the course was the amount of knowledge I have attained in such as short amount of time.’

20. Skills Unit Any Questions ?