Making maths more accessible

The Numeracy Centre aims to support students studying Mathematics and numeracy-based courses, such as Statistics.

Contact us

The Numeracy Centre, coordinated by Carolyn Kennett, is located in Room 188, 14 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Avenue (14SCOA). Links to online help can be found on the Centre's iLearn page.

Aims

We have two major aims:

  1. To improve students’ access to mathematics and numeracy-based courses, such as statistics, at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
  2. To improve students’ completion rates of mathematics and numeracy-based courses.

In striving to achieve these aims, the Numeracy Centre offers a number of services including free drop-in service, weekly workshops for some first-year courses, bridging programs and preparatory courses at the beginning of each semester and some online resources.

The Numeracy Centre is funded by the University through Access and Equity initiatives.

Tutors

The Numeracy Centre has one permanent member of staff, the Director of the Centre, Carolyn Kennett.

The Centre also employs a number of casual tutors who work in the centre on a roster basis and also teach some of the workshops.

Meet the tutors currently employed by the Numeracy Centre below:

 Zahid Amin is highly motivated PhD candidate in applied mathematics at Macquarie University, leveraging 8 years of teaching experience (Years 10 – Undergraduate & master) to excel in research and academia.  Began teaching at Macquarie University in July 2023 as sessional staff in school of mathematics and physics, fostering a passion for knowledge transfer alongside research pursuits. Beyond my research focus, I have passion to help those students who may feel intimidated by mathematics. My primary focus is to make mathematics enjoyable for all my students.
Sherwin Bagheri did both his undergrad and postgrad studies of Maths at Macquarie. He has over a decade of teaching experience and currently teaches at multiple different universities. He loves teaching and helping students who are struggling.
 Matthew James Fernandes is currently doing a PhD that involves computation and simulation of electromagnetic and acoustic wave scattering. Matthew have been a teacher and tutor for both secondary and tertiary maths on and off for over 20 years and he enjoy helping make maths more understandable.
 Martin Flood did actuarial studies at Macquarie University many years ago. He retired from IT work in the finance and banking sector but still invests in the share market. Martin is studying Science with a Maths major and a Master of teaching. He can help mostly with first year Maths, Stats and Finance. He also responds to "Marty " and "Hey you".
Barbara Gunn has taught secondary mathematics, science and physics for almost 20 years. Prior to that, she studied postgraduate mathematics and tutored first year mathematics courses. Barbara enjoys helping people to understand mathematical concepts and apply them in science subjects.

Xuejing Huo is currently pursuing a Master of Research (MRes) degree in Pure Mathematics at Macquarie University. She has studied a wide range of classes in both pure mathematics and applied mathematics and is dedicated to exploring deeper knowledge in her field. Xuejing possesses great patience in helping students overcome their confusion in mathematics.
 Tasawar Iqbal is a Ph.D. candidate and a sessional academic in the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Macquarie University. He is an HEC-MQ co-funded scholar from district Lahore, Pakistan. His major area is applied Mathematics with a specialization in fluid dynamics. His research interests include fluid flow at a low Reynolds number and laminar flows. Tasawar has a passion to travel and explore nature.
 
Carolyn Kennett oversees all aspects of the work of the Centre. She has taught at Macquarie University for more than 25 years. She has extensive experience teaching mathematics and statistics to first year students. She also specialises in teaching numeracy skills to students who feel daunted by mathematics. She aims to make maths more accessible and enjoyable for all students.
 
Jack Nibbs graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) from UNSW in 2014. During his time there he developed a keen interest in space and decided to start studying Astronomy and Astrophysics here at Macquarie University in 2016. After discovering just how much he loved Mathematics he added it as a second major. Jack graduated in 2020 and is now currently pursuing his Masters of Research in Astrophysics where he study "binary star interactions."
 

Manju Thomas is a statistician, who graduated from Macquarie University. She is passionate about teaching and helping students improve their quantitative skills and has been working at the numeracy centre for many years. Currently, she serves as a super sessional for one of the largest statistics units.

 Bala Pasupathy has been teaching statistics for over a decade now. She is passionate about departing my statistical knowledge to student. Bala goal is to help students achieve their best possible progress in their statistical units at the university and retain that knowledge beyond their university life.
 Ali Shariati has gained extensive teaching experience at Macquarie University since 2018, where he has taught most statistics units at all levels. He has a strong background in statistics, developed through years of education (MSc in Mathematical Statistics; BSc, MRes, and PhD in Statistics) and research. His field of expertise is statistics and data science, with a concentration in medical research and epidemiology, where he has published several journal articles. He also has experience teaching mathematics and Masters-level epidemiology at Macquarie University.
 

Matthew Tydd has taught Mathematics from high school level to third year undergraduate level as well as Stats, Physics Chemistry and IT at first and; in some cases second year level. Apart from a stint with CSIRO and some time writing mathematics software for schools Matthew has taught in Schools, Colleges and Universities for almost forty years. He has been involved in teacher training for around 17 years and has written content for Macquarie University and NESA.