Maths Spiral
About Maths Spiral
If you are between 16 and 18 years old, have a passion for mathematics, and are eager to find out where the subject could take you in the future – Maths Spiral is here to help! Maths Spirals are a series of virtual events centred around exciting mathematical puzzles and strategic problem-solving. They are designed to provide insights into whether a maths degree is the right route for people in their last few years of school.
Each session involves working as a team to find solutions to problems, reflecting the collaborative environment you find in a university classroom. Join fellow students in encountering high-level concepts that are introduced in Advanced Higher, A-Level and the early stages of university, in an engaging and accessible format. You do not need knowledge beyond GCSE or Nat 5 Maths, and there is no prior preparation required to take part. The first session is taking place on Saturday 18 November at 2pm and will last for 1 hour. There will be 4 sessions held throughout the year, with dates yet to be confirmed.
You will have the opportunity to chat with a recent graduate during the session and get your university-related questions answered by someone with first-hand experience. For instance, you may want to know: how to balance the workload; what sort of career development you may expect after graduation; and what to consider when choosing which universities to apply to. Current students deliver the sessions, so you will meet with people who have gone through the process and benefit from their valuable advice.
What will I gain from attending Maths Spiral?
We interviewed fifth-year student Elinor, the lead organiser of the sessions, to give you a taste of the sort of knowledge you could get from attending Maths Spiral.
What do you find most rewarding about your role in organising the Maths Spiral sessions?
The idea behind these sessions was creating something that my 16-year-old self would have found beneficial when making decisions about what I wanted to do next. As such, I have created these sessions to focus on what I was worried about when thinking about applying to do mathematics at university and I hope that others will find them helpful.
In what ways do you believe that attending the Maths Spiral sessions can positively impact students?
I hope that it will give them more information and a feeling for what maths at university can be like – and so help inform the big decisions they are making about what to study at university and if they want to go to university. Even if you don’t want to study mathematics at university, I hope it will still be fun to work through the puzzle section of the session and learn about different ways mathematicians can approach problems.
Could you share any unexpected insights or aspects of studying a mathematics degree that you’ve encountered during your academic journey?
I think my mathematics degree has allowed me to find the important information in a problem or puzzle and ignore the parts that don’t matter. Sometimes I feel as though I have not learnt anything new and am just using high school mathematics, but when I compare what I can do now with what I could do at the start of my degree I see how much I have learned.
If someone is uncertain about whether the Maths Spiral sessions are suitable for them, what advice would you offer to help them make an informed decision?
Just come along and try it out! It is only 1 hour on a Saturday afternoon and because it is a Zoom call, if you don’t like it, you can just leave. However, as there are a few different parts to the session we hope that you will enjoy some of it. And if you don’t that is also fine, the point of the sessions is to get a feeling of what maths at university might be like and this may help inform you.
Find out more
Sign up via the Eventbrite page (which includes a programme for the hour): https://edin.ac/3swq90A
We will keep you updated about future Maths Spiral sessions, and other events run by the Outreach team, via our social media channels.
