During parliamentary questions on 18 March 2021, Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP acknowledged the upskilling training Strathclyde has developed to help support teachers for the new Higher Applications of Mathematics course.
Responding to questions on how the Scottish Government are preparing teachers for the introduction of the new Higher, Mr Swinney highlighted that the SQA has been working with Education Scotland and The University of Strathclyde to develop resources and training to support teachers with the roll out of the new qualification.
Through funding received from the Scottish Funding Council, Strathclyde developed and delivered online courses to upskill teachers in statistics and mathematical modelling to enable them to be well prepared to deliver the new Higher.
To date, over 800 teachers have enrolled on these modules with feedback from participants demonstrating the value these courses have delivered:
“I had already covered statistics as part of my Undergraduate but found the refresher course very helpful to allow me to teach the concepts in Higher Applications of Maths. I particularly liked the practical applications and references to real life studies - including some topical references to COVID-19 - which I will be making use of when designing our course materials.”