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Dr. Birgit Loch   Senior Lecturer - Mathematics Education

Profile Photo
Areas:
Mathematics
Engineering and Science Education Research Group
Office:
EN711b
Phone:
+61 3 9214 8216
E-Mail:
bloch@swin.edu.au
Campus:
Hawthorn
Faculty of Engineering & Industrial Sciences (H38)
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218
Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122
Australia

See also this website

Qualifications

  • Dipl.-Math. (Essen)
  • PhD (Queensland)
  • Grad.Cert.Tert.T&L (Southern Queensland)

Main Research Interests

  • Technology in tertiary mathematics education
  • Tablet technology
  • Effective use of screencasting
  • Mathematics e-learning
  • Staff engagement in technologies for L&T
  • Technology trials
  • Mathematical surface fitting techniques

Current external Grants

  • ALTC Leadership for Excellence Grant (A national discipline-specific professional development programme for lecturers and tutors in the mathematical sciences) led by Macquarie University, 2009-2011 ($218,000)
  • MSOR Mini-project (Supporting students studying advanced calculus using screencasts) led by the Open University 2010-2011 (£4,900)

Topics for Prospective Ph.D Students - View ALL topics for Dr. Birgit Loch

Tablet technology
A thorough investigation is now needed to link to and extend educational theory and find out how and why tablet PCs enhance student learning, particularly in mathematical sciences.

Web 2.0 technologies
This project investigates how Web 2.0 technologies can be used effectively in tertiary teaching in the mathematical sciences to improve student learning.

Overcoming threshold concepts through technology
This project will investigate the role technologies can play in overcoming threshold concepts in mathematics learning in a mathematics support centre context.

Media

  • IT tools give maths pizzazz

    IT tools give maths pizzazz

    When seeking evidence of how new technologies enrich the learning experience, look no further than the gratitude of Richard Grzebieta, a first-year mechatronics and robotics student at Swinburne University of Technology

  • Maths support heads online

    Maths support heads online

    Swinburne has stepped up its support services for its maths students, introducing online tutorials to complement existing support programs. Dr Birgit Loch is leading a research project to create 'MathsCasts' - online tutorial videos.
  • The high-tech halls

    The high-tech halls

    Tertiary students are spending less time on campus than ever before. With the help of changing technology they are increasingly logging on to learn. But are they the better for it?

  • Students learn to take their tablets

    Students learn to take their tablets

    At Swinburne University, Dr Birgit Loch is deploying new technology to boost students' marks and keep dropout rates down. Using tablets with touch-sensitive screens, clickers and screencasts, she is helping reshape the age-old formal lecture
  • Students benefit from high-tech teaching

    Students benefit from high-tech teaching

    Gone are the days when a pencil, book and calculator were considered standard issue equipment for a maths lecture. In Dr Birgit Loch’s classroom it’s PC tablets, clickers and screen casts that are the norm.

Selected Publications

  1. Phillips, P. and Loch, B. (to be published in 2011). "Building lectures and building bridges with socio-economically disadvantaged students.", Educational Technology & Society.
  2. Galligan L., Loch B., McDonald C., Taylor J. (2010). "The use of Tablet and related technologies in mathematics teaching", Australian Senior Mathematics Journal, Vol. 24, no. 1 (2010), pp. 38-51.
  3. Loch B. and Fisher W. (2010). "Facilitating change: tablet PC trials across two distance education focused universities". Proceedings of 'Curriculum, Technology & Transformation for an Unknown Future', the 27th Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education Conference (ASCILITE 2010), Sydney, Australia, 05-08 December 2010
  4. Loch B. (2010) “What do on campus students do with mathematics lecture screencasts at a dual-mode Australian university?”, Proceedings of 'Opening Windows on Mathematics and Statistics', the Continuing Excellence in the Teaching and Learning of Maths, Stats and Operational Research Conference (CETL-MSOR 2009), Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, 07-08 September 2009
  5. Brodie L. and Loch B. (2009). “Annotations with a Tablet PC or typed feedback: does it make a difference?” In: AaeE 2009: 20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education: Engineering the Curriculum, 6-9 Dec 2009, Adelaide, Australia.
  6. Reushle S. and Loch B. (2008). “Conducting a Trial of Web Conferencing Software: Why, How and Perceptions from the Coalface”. Turkish Online J. for Distance Education 9(3).
  7. Loch B. and McDonald C. (2007). “Synchronous chat and electronic ink for distance support in mathematics”. Innovate 3 (3).
  8. Loch B. and Donovan D. (2006). “Progressive Teaching of Mathematics with Tablet Technology”. e-JIST, e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology, Vol. 9 No. 2.

Awards

  • 2010 ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (For innovation in the use of technologies for mathematics teaching, and leadership in lecturers´ adoption of these technologies to promote student learning)
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