Overview
Background
I obtained my PhD in Pure Mathematics from the University of Adelaide in the area of Convex Sets with Lattice Point Constraints. Following my PhD, I was a mathematics lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2012, I joined UQ as a teaching focused academic in the School of Mathematics and Physics.
I have extensive teaching and administrative experience at the secondary-tertiary interface. Prior to my PhD, I taught senior high school mathematics in Singapore, where, as head of the mathematics department, I oversaw the delivery of the senior high school mathematics curriculum for over 2000 students. In my current role as Director of First Year Mathematics, I have led and implemented course improvements. These include the development of a comprehensive range of graded learning resources for key first year mathematics courses and specific initiatives to address the secondary-tertiary mathematics transition. One such initiative that has been especially rewarding is the Support Learning Tutorial (SLT), an intervention program that I designed and implemented to support at-risk first year students. SLT students have consistently outperformed the general cohort in pass rates and quality of results. Another significant initiative which I led is the MATH1051 (Calculus and Linear Algebra I) UQ2U Blended Learning Project. This project introduced changes to the delivery of MATH1051 in 2019, through the integration of online and high-value on-campus activities. A key innovation is the creation of a complete set of videos for MATH1051 and the implementation of collaborative workshops. The success of the MATH1051 project has led to the subsequent redesign of several large first year mathematics courses.
The impact of my teaching and research has been recognised through eight teaching awards (five UQ and three national awards). I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Fellowship (SFHEA) and 2022 Australian University Teacher of the Year.
Awards and Fellowships
- Australian Awards for University Teaching, Australian University Teacher of the Year, 2022
- Australian Awards for University Teaching, Award for Teaching Excellence, 2022
- UQ Faculty of Science Sustained Teaching Excellence Award, 2021
- UQ Award for Teaching Excellence, 2021
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), 2020
- UQ Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology Special Teaching Excellence Award, 2018
- Australian Awards for University Teaching Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, 2017
- UQ Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, 2016
- UQ Faculty of Science Award for Teaching Excellence, 2014
Availability
- Associate Professor Poh Wah Hillock is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Research interests
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Building Community in First Year Mathematics
There is a large body of research which tells us that belonging enhances achievement & motivation. First year at university is challenging for many students: there are new ways of learning, new physical and social environments, high expectations and the list goes on. How can we promote community/sense of belonging in first year mathematics?
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Assessment in first year mathematics
Design of assessment tasks which provide students with frequent and meaningful feedback, facilitating reflection, self-assessment and independent learning; Peer-assessment in first year mathematics.
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First year mathematics support
Effective programs to support students in first year mathematics.
-
Special topics in first year mathematics
Teaching and learning of special topics in first year mathematics, e.g. series, power series, vector spaces.
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Blended learning in first year mathematics
Effectiveness of hybrid models in the delivery of first year mathematics.
-
Evaluating the impact of mathematics support centres
A Mathematics Support Centre (MSC) is a facility which provides mathematics support outside of a student’s regular program. The growth of MSCs in tertiary institutions worldwide can be attributed to several factors: increased quantitative demands in many tertiary courses, widening pathways to university resulting in diverse mathematical backgrounds of incoming tertiary students, high attrition rates in quantitative disciplines, removal of mathematics prerequisites and/or assumed knowledge from many courses. Evaluation of MSCs is critical in order to ensure best practice, to make sure that services are meeting the needs of students and to make the case for continued funding.
Works
Search Professor Poh Wah Hillock’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Conference Publication
Evaluating the mathematics first year learning centre at the University of Queensland
Hillock, Poh Wah (2024). Evaluating the mathematics first year learning centre at the University of Queensland. 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education, Sydney, NSW Australia, 7-14 July 2024.
2024
Conference Publication
Collaborative workshops in a large first year calculus course
Hillock, Poh Wah (2024). Collaborative workshops in a large first year calculus course. 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education, Sydney, NSW Australia, 7-14 July 2024.
2023
Conference Publication
Transforming first year maths –opening doors to success
Hillock, Poh (2023). Transforming first year maths –opening doors to success. CETL-MSOR, Cardiff, Wales, 7 - 8 September 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Reimagining first year mathematics
Hillock, Poh Wah (2023). Reimagining first year mathematics. South East Asia Conference on Education, Singapore, 10-13 February 2023.
2022
Conference Publication
Course transformation in first year mathematics – a phased approach
Hillock, Poh Wah (2022). Course transformation in first year mathematics – a phased approach. 66th Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 6-9 December 2022.
2022
Conference Publication
Redesigning lectures for flexible learning in first year mathematics
Hillock, Poh Wah (2022). Redesigning lectures for flexible learning in first year mathematics. Students Transtions Achievement Retention & Success (STARS), Online, 4-6 July 2022.
2021
Conference Publication
Collaborative workshops in a large first year mathematics course
Hillock, Poh Wah (2021). Collaborative workshops in a large first year mathematics course. 2021 Student Transitions, Achievement, Retention and Success (STARS) Conference , Online, 5-9 July 2021. Online: Jason Thomas Events .
2021
Conference Publication
Course redesign for flexible delivery and increased engagement
Hillock, Poh Wah and Ponce Campuzano, Juan Carlos (2021). Course redesign for flexible delivery and increased engagement. Herenga Delta Conference 2021 , Online, 22-25 November 2021.
2020
Journal Article
Amazzzing bees!
Hillock, Poh Wah (2020). Amazzzing bees!. Australian Mathematics Education Journal, 2 (3), 41-44.
2020
Conference Publication
Online delivery of first year maths: challenges and opportunities
Hillock, Poh (2020). Online delivery of first year maths: challenges and opportunities. 64th Australian Mathematical Society Meeting, University of New England, NSW, Australia, 8-11 December 2020.
2019
Journal Article
Mathematics support matters
Hillock, Poh Wah (2019). Mathematics support matters. Teaching Mathematics, 44 (1), 14-16.
2019
Journal Article
A support learning programme for first-year mathematics*
Hillock, Poh Wah and Khan, R. Nazim (2019). A support learning programme for first-year mathematics*. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 50 (7), 1-14. doi: 10.1080/0020739X.2019.1656830
2019
Conference Publication
Blended learning in a large first year mathematics course
Hillock, Poh Wah (2019). Blended learning in a large first year mathematics course. 63rd Australian Mathematical Society Meeting, Clayton, VIC Australia, 3-6 December 2019.
2018
Journal Article
Well begun is half done!
Hillock, Poh Wah (2018). Well begun is half done!. Teaching Mathematics, 43 (1), 11-12.
2018
Conference Publication
A support learning program for first year mathematics
Hillock, Poh Wah (2018). A support learning program for first year mathematics. STARS, Auckland, New Zealand, 8 - 11 July 2018. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland University of Technology.
2013
Other Outputs
A mathematics support program for first year engineering students
Hillock, Poh Wah, Roberts, Anthony, Grotowski, Joseph, Jennings, Michael, Kavanagh, Lydia and Scharschkin, Victor (2013). A mathematics support program for first year engineering students. Brisbane, QLD Australia: School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland.
2013
Journal Article
A mathematics support programme for first-year engineering students
Hillock, Poh Wah, Jennings, Michael, Roberts, Anthony and Scharaschkin, Victor (2013). A mathematics support programme for first-year engineering students. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 44 (7), 1030-1044. doi: 10.1080/0020739X.2013.823251
2012
Other Outputs
Developing a profile of student performance in large classes
Hillock, Poh Wah, Roberts, Anthony, Grotowski, Joseph, Jennings, Michael and Scharaschkin, Victor (2012). Developing a profile of student performance in large classes. Brisbane, QLD Australia: School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland.
2002
Journal Article
Inequalities for lattice constrained planar convex sets.
Hillock, Poh Wah and Scott, Paul R. (2002). Inequalities for lattice constrained planar convex sets.. Journal of Inequalities in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 3 (2), 23.1-23.20.
2000
Journal Article
Inequalities for convex sets
Scott, Paul R. and Awyong, Poh Wah (2000). Inequalities for convex sets. Journal of Inequalities in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 1 (1) 6.
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Poh Wah Hillock is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
-
Assessment in first year mathematics
Design of assessment tasks which provide students with frequent and meaningful feedback, facilitating reflection, self-assessment and independent learning; Peer-assessment in first year mathematics.
-
Special topics in first year mathematics
Teaching and learning of special topics in first year mathematics, e.g. series, power series, vector spaces.
-
First year mathematics support
Effective programs to support students in first year mathematics.
-
Blended learning in first year mathematics
Effectiveness of hybrid models in the delivery of first year mathematics.
-
Building community in first year mathematics
There is a large body of research which tells us that belonging enhances achievement & motivation. First year at university is challenging for many students: there are new ways of learning, new physical and social environments, high expectations and the list goes on. How can we promote community/sense of belonging in first year mathematics?
-
Evaluating Mathematics Support Centres
A Mathematics Support Centre (MSC) is a facility which provides mathematics support outside of a student’s regular program. The growth of MSCs in tertiary institutions worldwide can be attributed to several factors: increased quantitative demands in many tertiary courses, widening pathways to university resulting in diverse mathematical backgrounds of incoming tertiary students, high attrition rates in quantitative disciplines, removal of mathematics prerequisites and/or assumed knowledge from many courses.
Evaluation of MSCs is critical in order to ensure best practice, to make sure that services are meeting the needs of students and to make the case for continued funding.
Media
Enquiries
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