Welcome to our roundup of all things Cambridge Mathematics

A message from our Director

Dear reader

Marhaba,

Ten years of Cambridge Mathematics, already! A decade of dedication, hard work, passion and enjoyment. A decade of reimagining mathematics education. 

I am proud to be leading Cambridge Mathematics, and I am privileged to have done so for the past 30 months, following Lynne McClure who started it all from scratch in 2015. Lynne had a dream that Cambridge embraced and helped her bring to life in the form of Cambridge Mathematics. That dream was later joined by many zealous educators and researchers, mathematicians and scientists, linguists and designers, programmers and managers, leading to something bigger than a project: a new way of looking at and dealing with mathematics. The first person to embark on this journey with Lynne was Tony, followed by Sarah, Rachael, Ellen, Darren, Lucy, Vinay, Lynn, Ben, Tabs, Ray, Dom, Rina, Nicky, Carrie, Xinyue and Fran. And then I joined, and we look forward to others joining us in the future! Everyone in this amazing team has embraced and helped shape the Cambridge Mathematics values and has been devoted to its vision, leading it to where it now is. This is an opportunity for me to thank everyone for their contributions, whether they are still part of the team or not, and to renew our commitment to mathematics lovers and enthusiasts to keep doing our best in support of spreading the love of our shared passion and to convince everyone else that mathematics rocks! 

A lot has been done in the past decade in partnership with education systems, organisations, ed-tech companies, schools and individual educators and learners. But we are not done yet! We are very excited about the next phase, especially that we might need to deal with reimagined education systems and revamped teaching and learning models compared with 2015 (and even 2020). Indeed, thinking outside the box and being creative and daring are our fortes. To elaborate a bit, many questions are being raised nowadays: Should curriculum and assessment design be approached the same way now as in the pre-pandemic and pre-AI proliferation era? Is the needed professional learning for educators comparable to what was needed years ago? Do students learn mathematics or other subjects the same way they used to? The answer to all these questions is a resounding “No!” The pandemic altered our perception of what could be done in-person and virtually, and a post-ChatGPT world is not the same as the pre-LLM one. We could go even further and ask: Should mathematics in 2025 be approached the same way as it was in 2015? How could Cambridge Mathematics evolve to cope with all that is happening in the world from advancements in AI, leaps in quantum technologies, concerns about the environment, and beyond? Our latest resources, research material and projects, where we focus on climate education, AI in teaching and learning mathematics, gamification, and accessibility of our content, are just a few examples of how we are doing it and what we were focused on lately, and we still have a lot in preparation; we cannot wait to share it with you in due course. What I can say now though is that we were and will always be guided by our vision and aims that have been shaped throughout the past 10 years.

In this issue, we have a new video for you on mapping curricula using the Cambridge Mathematics Framework. We also have the first Espresso translated into Arabic, and we invite everyone familiar with the language to check and comment on it by using the accessible QR code at the end of the document. Not just that, but we will start sharing with you from now on a list of events we will be participating in, so we can all connect and interact. Also in this issue, we introduce our summer internship opportunities where we are inviting undergraduates or recent graduates to join us for two exciting projects within the team. Moreover, we have launched our second Minecraft game, built in collaboration with Microsoft, focussing on ratios and scaling, and I share with you some of my own thoughts on why mathematics is and should remain SUBLIME! 

Please keep an eye on our newsletter, website and social media accounts, and make sure you subscribe to all these channels, as more media content will be published in the upcoming months, in the hope of reaching a wider audience; more languages are to be added to our offerings; and new products and resources will be introduced! 

Here’s to 10 years of mathematics and connectedness and to many more years to come! Thank you for being next to us in this journey so far, and we hope you stay with us for the exciting journey ahead.

Best wishes,

Are you a curriculum designer, an assessment expert, a head of department, or an education policymaker interested in having your various mathematics resources compared to a unique research-based reference?

In this introductory video, Tabs and Fran briefly outline how a curriculum can be ‘mapped’ to the Cambridge Mathematics Framework. Our mappings can be personalised to focus on what you want to highlight, uncover, or improve.

Our first Espresso translated into Arabic is the one on Proportional Reasoning (#28). If you are familiar with the language, please check it out and share your feedback by using the accessible QR code at the end of the document. This is the first one in a series of Espressos to be translated to Arabic as well as other languages. Stay tuned!

We've collaborated with Minecraft Education to develop an exciting new game that helps build foundations in proportional reasoning.

In Ratio Riddles, players enter a school of magic where they work with ratios, fractions and scale factors to complete fantastical challenges, establish foundations of proportional reasoning and graduate with high honours.

Minecraft provides a learning environment where students can develop competency through action and where understanding key concepts can unlock rewarding gameplay. More broadly, game-based activities can enhance students’ sense of agency and context in mathematics, increasing their interest and engagement.

We are excited to be able to welcome two interns to work with our team this summer. Perhaps one of these roles will be ideal for you! 

Accessibility Intern - Alternative Text

As part of this role, you will:

• Enhance the accessibility of the current images and infographics that have been created by the Cambridge Mathematics team by writing and embedding both summary and detailed alternative text for them.
• Compare the effectiveness and appropriateness of AI-generated alternative text with human-generated alternative text and produce a report of your evaluation and findings.
• Produce a set of best practice guidelines for the creation of alternative text to inform the future work of the Cambridge Mathematics team.

Climate Education Resource Design Intern

As part of this role, you will:

• Search online by various means for activities and resources involving mathematical modelling currently used to enhance climate education
• Add these resources to a database with your ideas of how they may relate to several criteria for likely success in climate education
• Work with a researcher on our team to identify topics for which we might want to develop new resources
• Briefly outline some learning design basics to propose for potential new resources
• Learn about background research and collaborative learning design processes for educational resources

Joint Conference of Mathematics Subject Associations: Future Proofing the Curriculum

The organisers say: This conference offers members of all five associations, as well as non-members, an invaluable opportunity to explore new ideas and make social and professional connections in a stimulating and challenging environment that encourages face-to-face sharing and learning.

Attending the conference

Mathematics is SUBLIME!

What does mathematics look like in an AI-powered world? Does it remain relevant? Join Rachad as he tries to answer this and more

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