My teaching
Undergraduate lecturing
- Proofs and Problem Solving (University of Edinburgh) 2011/12 and 2012/13.
I co-lecture this new Y1 course with Dr. Ivan Cheltsov using the textbook A Concise Introduction to Pure Mathematics by Martin Liebeck. We are pioneering a new style of teaching called 'peer instruction' in which lectures consist of a series of questions, encouraging students to think deeply about the material, discuss it with other students and confront their misconceptions. I design tutorial sheets for the course and use MapleTA to design online reading tests for students to do before each lecture.
Undergraduate tutoring
- Mathsbase (University of Edinburgh), 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10.
- Honours 1 (University of Edinburgh), 2008/09 Semester 2
- AM3/MM3 Applicable Mathematics 3/ Mathematical Methods 3 (University of Edinburgh), 2007/08 Semester 1
- AM2/MM2 Applicable Mathematics 2/ Mathematical Methods 2 (University of Edinburgh), 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2009/10 Semester 2
- AM1/MM1 Applicable Mathematics 1/ Mathematical Methods 1 (University of Edinburgh), 2006/07 and 2009/10 Semester 1
- MA10004 Sets and Sequences (University of Bath), 2005/06 Semester 2
- MA10001 Numbers (University of Bath), 2005/06 Semester 1
Open Studies course
I teach a University of Edinburgh Open Studies course entitled Mathematical Ideas that Shaped the World. This is an adult learning course which introduces the greatest ideas of modern mathematics and explores the effect they have had on history and philosophy. The course is 10 weeks long and will run in both Semester 1 and Semester 3 of 2012/2013. See the Open Studies website for prices and availability.
The website for this course is www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~jcollins/OpenStudies/, and all slides and information from the course will be posted there when appropriate.