@peterrowlett@mathstodon.xyz
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peterrowlett

@peterrowlett@mathstodon.xyz

I teach maths at university in the UK — including modelling, combinatorics, game theory, history, programming — and research university-level mathematics education practice. And I play maths with my son.

I edit https://mathstodon.xyz/@aperiodical with https://mathstodon.xyz/@christianp & https://mathstodon.xyz/@stecks, co-host podcast Mathematical Objects, volunteer for the Institute of Mathematics & its Applications, and do various other things.

I'm part of the Finite Group. Join us!

#academia #highered #math #maths #mathematics #education #university

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peterrowlett, to random
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We’re playing Noughts and Crosses variants in Game Theory and Recreational Mathematics this morning. What’s your favourite Noughts and Crosses variant?

peterrowlett,
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I’ve introduced my students to Ox Blocks, and they are playing it with a regular die.

Read more about this here: https://aperiodical.com/2013/05/ox-blocks-probabilities/

Or listen to me talk about it on this episode of the Mathematical Objects podcast: https://aperiodical.com/2019/12/mathematical-objects-ox-blocks/

peterrowlett, to random
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A couple of weeks ago @stecks, @sam_hartburn, @alisonkiddle and I got together and signed a limited number of copies of Short Cuts: Maths. You can buy one here:

https://mathsgear.co.uk/collections/books/products/short-cuts-maths-navigate-your-way-through-the-big-ideas-signed-hardback

christianp, to accessibility
@christianp@mathstodon.xyz avatar

I'd argue that the web version of Outlook fails WCAG 2.1.4: Character Key Shortcuts (Level A) in spirit, if not by the letter.

There are single-key shortcuts that do annoying things like archiving the currently-focused email. You can turn them off, but only by turning off all keyboard shortcuts, including combos like Ctrl+Enter to send the email you're writing.

I only know about these shortcuts because every now and then Outlook decides the subject line doesn't have focus any more and the word I'm typing instead causes havoc in my inbox.

peterrowlett,
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@christianp yes! It’s awful when this happens!

peterrowlett, to random
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I teach a module 'Game Theory and Recreational Mathematics'. Via giving the G4G talk today* on game theory, I just heard about Stanley Eigen's Northeastern University course 'Math, Magic, Games & Puzzles':
https://news.northeastern.edu/2023/11/02/magazine/math-magic-tricks/

peterrowlett, to random
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We did a Finite Group livestream this evening. @stecks showed me some interesting prime number maths, and I showed her a coding thing.

Comments in the chat at the end included “Thanks great job”, “Thanks, that was fun!” and “Thank you, I enjoyed that”. So that’s nice!

If you sign up soon, you’ll get access to view the recording of the session! http://finitegroup.co.uk/

peterrowlett, to random
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Day 2 at @BigMathsJam. Yesterday I gave a talk, ran an evening activity, signed 35 copies of Short Cuts: Maths, and signed some Christmas cards to send to Finite Group members (sign up now to get one!). A more restful day today!

peterrowlett, to random
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Mathematicians are doing live maths at .

Darts.

stecks, to random
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A reminder! We've started a fun maths community with monthly live chats, and this month I'll be chatting with @peterrowlett all about prime numbers for our livestream on 15th November! Details of how to join, and more, at https://finitegroup.co.uk

peterrowlett,
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@RyunoKi @stecks no, the Finite Group is our new Patreon/Discord project, separate from Mathematical Objects. This will be a members-only video chat.

peterrowlett, to Sheffield
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Our 14th Nov event ‘Mathematics: Broader Horizons’ is listed at Maths Week England. It’s designed to give sixth formers a broader view of maths as a cultural, human endeavour that can lead you to interesting applications and careers.

https://mathsweekengland.co.uk/?p=8072

peterrowlett, to random
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My second attempt to recreate a Martin Gardner Scientific American cover using the LaTeX drawing package TikZ. https://aperiodical.com/2023/10/2-four-bugs/

christianp, to random
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First touch of frost this morning in . Autumn has finally arrived! 🥶
What's the weather where you are?

peterrowlett,
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@christianp we had our first frost yesterday, today is a positively balmy 13C. Nice sunny, crisp autumn day.

peterrowlett, to random
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Feedback loop 🔁
(sound on)

Two Pokémon toys taking to each other, each asking the other to repeat its instruction.

peterrowlett, to random
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So excited today is the publication day for Short Cuts: Maths, a popular maths book I’ve been working on with @stecks, @alisonkiddle and @sam_hartburn! It’s a series of intriguing(/silly) questions and answers covering important concepts in maths, along with fab illustrations.

peterrowlett, to random
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Fans of the Mathematical Objects podcast can now buy a t-shirt with its logo on.

The podcast is hosted at The @aperiodical - @christianp runs a t-shirt store to help pay the server costs and he’d added t-shirts with the podcast logo. Buy one here: https://aperiodical.teemill.com/search/?search=objects

christianp, to random
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Can people with normal colour vision see the text under "enter your code" in this screenshot?
Is this a dark-mode thing that they didn't account for?

peterrowlett,
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@christianp I can read it, but it’s an effort. It should not be this way.

christianp, to random
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UCU accidentally withdrew Newcastle's strike declaration, so we're at work this week.

peterrowlett,
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@christianp “accidentally”? How did that happen?!

christianp, to random
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Obviously the first thing I did with the new search was a vanity search

peterrowlett,
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@christianp but I guess most people won’t have it turned on. Will it prompt people to decide whether to opt-in, or is it relying on people noticing the feature?

peterrowlett,
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@christianp I guess you could ‘announcement’ a reminder?

peterrowlett, to random
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In sunny Chesterfield on my way to visit a school. I’m speaking to Y13 about careers in maths and running a mathematical modelling workshop. Looking to visit other schools in South Yorkshire, Notts and Derbyshire - get in touch!

peterrowlett, to random
@peterrowlett@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Curious geometry problem. I put an apple and a mug in the same bag and they have jostled around and done this, and now I can’t remove the apple from the mug! I can rotate the apple a bit and move it up and down a fraction.

peterrowlett,
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Some useful and not-so-useful ideas in the replies! I’m currently waiting until I’m ready to eat the apple and then planning to hit it with a knife. Weirdly, the conference was well catered so I didn’t need the apple, so I’m taking the mug home and my attempt to return it to its home in my office has failed!

peterrowlett,
@peterrowlett@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Huzzah! I ran some water into the mug, some of it bubbled slowly under the apple, then I poured it all out. After this the apple would spin more freely in place so I held the mug upside down and rotated the apple until it popped out of the mug!

peterrowlett, to random
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Today is my university’s internal teaching practice conference. Sheffield Hallam has this useful acronym “LTA” which is commonly understood internally as “Learning, Teaching and Assessment” but doesn’t seem to be used anywhere else.

Anyway, it’s the LTA Conference and I’m speaking about e-assessment. My title is ‘What could a modern, numerate e-assessment system do for SHU?’ (There’s a weak “shoe”/“you” pun at the end there.)

peterrowlett,
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@christianp @numbas it’s abstracted from this, it’s me pushing at “we should be doing something”, hoping to get the all clear at some point to move onto what that might be. Though I’m going to show a Numbas question so people get what I’m on about.

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