An important part of NUSTEM’s role is supporting academics in Northumbria University to translate and communicate their research to new audiences. We first worked with Northumbria University’s maths academic Matteo Sommacal during the sixth-form evening lecture, where he fascinated year 11 and 12 students with the complex beauty of fractal geometry.

In the summer term of 2024 we worked with Matteo again, this time to develop the ‘The Mathematician’, a classroom workshop about fractal geometry for primary school children in Year 5 and 6. The classroom workshop aimed to provide a real-world enrichment experience and showcase an alternative side of maths than children experience through national curriculum topics.

Maths is a rich tapestry, yet there is only scope within the national curriculum to include a small sub-set of the possible areas of mathematical exploration. Fractal geometry is a vibrant and important area of mathematics. Studying fractal geometry is looking for the formula in the complex and irregular. Nature can provide us many examples (clouds, snowflakes, cauliflowers, coastlines, trees), all of which have self-similar patterns. Look closely at a fractal and you will see that the complexity is still present at a smaller scale. While it can be appreciated just for its beauty, fractal geometry also presents a different way of seeing the world. It provides mathematicians with a way to understand the complexity in systems as well as shapes.

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Besides his passion for fractal geometry, one of Matteo’s motivations to work with NUSTEM is that when young people came to study Maths at University they could be initially confused when they first encounter different branches of maths they hadn’t known existed. The Mathematician aims to show children that maths isn’t just numbers and equations, it can also be about pattern and repetition.

In the developed workshop children are introduced to self-similar patterns and were asked to explore them in images of nature. They learn why mathematicians struggle to measure the perimeter of the UK coastline and how fractal geometry can be useful in addressing this challenge. Lastly, children look at how the Sierpinski triangle is formed through a specific algorithm, and draw their own Sierpinski triangles, which are showcased here.

The workshop was evaluated firstly using reflexive practice among delivery staff to refine the delivery in the formative stages, and then using a using a pre- and post- workshop evaluation worksheet for pupils. Pupils were asked to describe the first three words that come to mind when they think about maths, and their feelings about the workshop. Post-workshop feedback was also collected from teachers.

In the pre-workshop evaluation, we found that 40% of the children describe maths by its mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, or branches of maths (geometry, algebra), with 10% describing maths to be about numbers. 12% of pupils saw maths as an approach, such as learning (6%) and problem solving (4%). Only one child described maths as being about identifying patterns (1%). 25% of children described maths through feelings or emotion, of these 38% described maths as hard, 38% as exciting, 13% as interesting and 13% as easy. Before the workshop children mostly said they felt good or excited. A couple of children said they felt nervous, one saying they were bad and maths, and another saying it would be better than the alternatives, “Better than writing isn’t it?”.

In pupils’ post workshop evaluation responses, we saw 24% of children describing maths by shape, and a reduction in the percentage of children describing maths by its operations (pre: 40%, post 15%). In approaches to maths, children now describe maths as being about pattern, reflecting the content about recognising self-similar patterns, and much less about problem-solving or gathering knowledge. More children described maths by feelings, with an increase of 35% in children describing it as fun/like it, and a reduction of 18% of children describing maths as hard.

The evaluation found that the workshop achieved its intended aim. Children described feeling calm and creative in the workshop and thinking that maths is ‘beautiful’. One year 6 child said, “the coastline problem was ‘intriguing’ and gave me a new way of looking at the world.” Teachers’ feedback affirmed that the workshop had supported children to see maths in a new light. One teacher said, “Maths is more than integers and the 4 operations”. The appeal of the workshop in engaging different audiences with maths was also praised by one teacher,

“I feel that maths in Y6 can sometimes be ‘functional’ but your session was inspiring. The children really enjoyed thinking about a different aspect of maths and it was striking that there were five or six children who can struggle with calculation, who embraced how maths was presented today. I felt that the children gained so much from this exercise. All of them were able to achieve and this is a huge confidence-boost for those who often assume that they aren’t ‘good at maths’.”
Year 6 Teacher

Start Small; Dream Big pilot

At NUSTEM we have been waiting for news from the Start Small; Dream Big pilot with eager anticipation.

Start Small; Dream Big is the Department for Education’s primary school careers programme led by the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC).  Between 2022 and 2025 schools in Education Investment areas, including our local North East Combined Authority, can take part in the pilot.

The pilot has been designed to increase primary-aged children’s awareness of the world of work, to raise aspirations and reduce stereotypes. Schools get training from Teach First to support their teachers to develop knowledge and skills about career-related learning, and increase their confidence to have careers conversations with pupils and parents. The pilot is also supporting schools to make connections with employers, to give pupils the opportunity to meet people in different jobs and see what the world of work is all about.

Initial findings

The report about the pilot’s first wave of schools were released this July.  Although the evaluation is still at an early stage, the report highlights three positive insights so far:

1. Schools’ careers provision and leadership commitment improved
2. Pupil career knowledge and confidence rose, the influence of stereotypes fell and parents noticed a difference
3. Employers valued working with primary pupils and want to do more

NUSTEM’s research on career aspirations

NUSTEM are currently researching how children’s career aspirations change between the ages of 8 and 12. We’ve asked over 1000 children in schools in areas of deprivation across the North East what they want to do when they grow up. This data means we can add some helpful background information to the findings from the pilot.

In the report there is evidence that in schools taking part in the pilot, girls’ career interests conformed less to gender-norms, and revealed interest in new avenues during the first wave of the pilot, “For girls, there was less interest in career areas, such as ‘Caring for animals’ (down 17%), and increased interest in ‘Law’ (up 34%), ‘Admin, business and finance’ (up 36%) and ‘Construction and building’ (up 25%).” (pg 4.)

In our research we’ve found that ‘helping’, including caring for animals is a common motivator for career aspirations among girls.  We’ve also found that, as children get older, there is a decline in interest in careers motivated by caring for animals. This could mean that the reduced interest in caring for animals careers seen in the Start Small; Dream Big is part of a natural age-related decline in interest in this type of career.

The report also considers the impact of the pilot on children’s aspirations.  Qualitative research interviews with children showed they had high aspirations for themselves and “spoke enthusiastically about becoming scientists, marine biologists, entrepreneurs and Olympic athletes. Interest in the arts led some pupils to be considering career choices as actors and dancers, and others mentioned more contemporary careers such as content creators and influencers.” (pg. 4)

In our own research we classify children’s aspirations into Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), a common classification of occupational information in the UK. Jobs are classified in terms of their skill level and skill content across nine categories. The examples given in the report are examples of career aspirations from SOC1-3: the highest categories within the SOC. Scientist and marine biologist are Professional Occupations (SOC2), while athletes, actors, dancers, content creators and social media influencers are classified as Associate Professional or Technical Occupations (SOC3).

In NUSTEM’s 2020 research on the aspirations of children in areas of disadvantage, we found that the majority of children were highly aspirational in their career ambitions (81% in SOC 1-3), with many reporting aspirations for jobs which were classified as higher status than the jobs their parents did.

Similarly, our research identifies a popular emergence of career aspirations for content creators and social media influencers, accounting for 5% of aspirations among children Y3-Y7, with a peak of 10% of aspirations among Y4. This emergence of aspirations for content creators and influencers in the Start Small; Dream Pilot may therefore reflect usual trends among primary school children, rather than a direct impact of the pilot.

What could impact on aspirations look like?

Aspirations are regularly used as a popular measure for understanding the impact of careers interventions. It feels like a logical assumption then that we might want children to aspire to different careers after an intervention. However, impact on aspirations might be assessed differently depending on your approach. Raising aspirations interventions might expect children to aspire to higher status careers – although as we’ve seen, children already have fairly high career aspirations.  Interventions aimed at broadening aspirations might hope to see a broader range of possible careers in a cohort of children, showing an opening up of different career possibilities.  Or perhaps the desired outcome of an interventions might be a reduction in certain types of jobs.  For example, we often find that the popular aspiration of footballer decreases somewhat amongst children after we have worked with the teachers or children in the school.

We’re looking forward to reading the final report for the Start Small; Dream Big pilot, but it will be important to think about what would count as a positive impact on the children’s aspirations in the pilot schools.

This academic year, NUSTEM has been delivering three main workshops in primary school: The Geologist, Naval Architect, The Mathematician. We’ve also been running our annual Sixth form evening lectures as well. Since September we have completed 70 activities engaging over 2000 children, 200 parents and 250 teachers.

For the Geologist workshop, year 3 classes came to visit the Think Lab here at Northumbria University. They have learned how rocks are formed, considered the attributes a geologist needs and what a career in geology might look like. This workshop has had a lot of positive feedback from the children and their teachers. Children can also tell their families what they have been doing using a QR code which links to information on the NUSTEM website.

In the Naval Architect workshops Mel and Caitlin visited Year 1 classes to develop interest in Naval Architecture. Pupils made boats from different materials and tested what shape these materials needed to be to float. After the session, we invited parents into the school for a workshop so the children could show their parents/guardians what they have learnt with us.

Our new Mathematician workshop works with year 5 and 6 students to show children that maths isn’t just numbers and equations but can be about patterns and repetition. We taught them about self-similar patterns and how they are everywhere in nature. We also showed them how mathematicians struggle to measure the perimeter of the coastline and asked the children how they would fix this problem. They looked at how the Sierpinski triangle is formed through a specific algorithm, and they were fascinated by this and continued to make the pattern at home and have sent us their creations!

The annual Sixth form evening lecture series coordinated by Antonio have also taken place this term. This year the evening lectures covering topics in maths and physics including ‘The Physics of bio- inspired by surfaces’ by Prashant Agrawal, ‘Talking in light’ by Mojtaba Mansour Abadi, ‘Heating solar cells’ by Giulia Longo, ‘Why does space sing’ by Dan Ratliff, ‘When plants eat animals’ by Ciro Semprebon, ‘Snowflakes in the Oven: coronal rain in the solar corona’ by Patrick Antolin, ‘An introduction to quantum chaos’ by Remy Dubertrand, and ‘The complex beauty of fractal geometry’ by Matteo Sommacal. The lectures were well-attended by students from different schools from around the region. Excellent feedback has been received from those that attended. Keep an eye out for them starting again in November 2024!

Joe visited Boulby Mine this November, as part of our STFC funded project ‘STEM Communities’. Boulby Mine is a laboratory owned and managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and is especially interesting as it is 1.1km below the ground.  Being underground and surrounded by salt and rock makes it a good place for measuring background radiation. The STFC are a UK based group that looks after some of the biggest UK experiments. NUSTEM is currently working with the staff at the mine to create a set of STEM person of the week cards to showcase and highlight the different people who work at Boulby: this set will be available on our website in the New Year.

Last month we launched Climate Change: It’s in Our Hands , a classroom-based game designed to make the often-complex subject of climate change accessible and engaging in a meaningful way. NUSTEM worked together with colleagues in the geography department, a local design company Roots and Wings, and children in New York primary school to design the game. We are also starting a new project with Northumbria’s Geography department and environmental colleagues at Newcastle University which is looking at how university outreach can support diversity of people who want to study geography and environmental science. The project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

This month also saw the announcement of a new partnership between Northumbria University, the UK Space Agency and global aerospace and security company Lockheed Martin to set up NESST, a centre for supporting space research and technology in the region. Annie has recently finished a commission to carry out the evaluation of the Lockheed Martin Space Camps for Year 6 and Year 12 delivered at the University of Sunderland. As part of NESST, NUSTEM will be supporting visits to NESST from partner primary schools, once the building is finished in 2025.

We have also welcomed Emmy Amers to the NUSTEM team to begin her PhD at Northumbria University. Emmy’s PhD will look at role models in outreach provision and their impact on children. This month she has been working on her literature review. Emmy also delivered as successful presentation at a conference in Belgium.

As we reach the end of the calendar year, the NUSTEM team wish you all a peaceful holiday, and a happy New Year.