Jeff Waldock

Mathematics Subject Group Leader, Sheffield Hallam University
Jeff Waldock has been a lecturer in Mathematics at Sheffield Hallam since 1987. He spent five years as Faculty Employability Lead and is currently Mathematics Subject Group Leader in the Department of Engineering and Mathematics. Before coming to Hallam he spent six years as a research associate in Ionospheric Physics at Leicester University. This followed a first degree and PGCE in Mathematics, and a PhD in Physics. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow.

Jeff has a keen interest in teaching and learning practice and in the appropriate application of technology both to support students and to increase their engagement their learning, stimulating interest, providing motivation and deepening understanding. Creating a shared community of learning is an important factor in maximising student achievement and he has created the departmental website to support student reflection, manage assignments and feedback, and facilitate staff-student communication. He has also created numerous interactive learning tools to help students explore various aspects of the mathematics curriculum.

Jeff is interested in all aspects of skills development, but particularly in encouraging mathematics students to acquire better employability skills, and to take advantage of the wider, extra-curricular opportunities available at University. He has been active nationally and internationally in developing this area.

Recently, he has been promoting the importance of discipline-focused informal learning spaces to create staff-student partnership communities. This leads to more effective development of employability skills, such as team working, encourages students to make more effective use of their time in the University buildings, and promotes higher levels of student engagement and achievement.

Having a long term interest in photography, Jeff developed a software tool for exploring the mathematics involved in post processing a digital image. This tool extracts the pixel values from the image into a spreadsheet, allowing students to implement mathematical algorithms to carry out a variety of visual effects. Activities based on this idea can be developed at a range of levels, and Jeff has done so both to degree students at Sheffield Hallam and as part of National Science Week, through his role as Science and Engineering Ambassador. In this way, students can bring a degree of artistic skills and creativity into their mathematical studies!