School of Mathematics and Physics

Associate Professor Poh Wah Hillock

Associate Professor
School of Mathematics and Physics
+61 7 336 53337
Priestley Building (67), Room 556
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Teaching and learning

Dr Hillock is an award winning teacher who teaches 1st year mathematics

Researcher biography

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
Featured projects Duration
Special topics in first year mathematics
First year mathematics support
Blended learning in first year mathematics
Building community in first year mathematics
Assessment in first year mathematics

Publications

Journal Articles (16)
Conference Papers (10)
Thesis (1)
Research Reports (2)

Journal Articles

Hillock, Poh Wah (2020). Amazzzing bees!. Australian Mathematics Education Journal, 2 (3), 41-44.
Hillock, Poh Wah (2019). Mathematics support matters. Teaching Mathematics, 44 (1), 14-16.
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
Hillock, Poh Wah (2018). Well begun is half done!. Teaching Mathematics, 43 (1), 11-12.
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
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.
Scott, Paul R. and Awyong, Poh Wah (2000). Inequalities for convex sets. Journal of Inequalities in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 1 (1) 6.
Awyong, Poh Wah and Scott, Paul R. (1999). Circumradius-diameter and width-irradius relations for lattice constrained convex sets. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 59 (1), 147-152. doi: 10.1017/S0004972700032706
Awyong, Poh Wah (1999). An inequality relating the circumradius and diameter of two-dimensional lattice-point-free convex bodies. American Mathematical Monthly, 106 (3), 252-255. doi: 10.2307/2589680
Scott, P. R. and Awyong, P. W. (1999). Inradius and circumradius for planar convex bodies containing no lattice points. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 59 (1), 163-168.
Cheng, Ang Keng and Wah, Awyong Poh (1999). The use of maple in first year undergraduate mathematics. The Mathematics Educator, 4 (1), 87-96.
Awyong, Poh Wah, Henk, Marti and Scott, Paul R. (1998). Note on lattice-point-free convex bodies. Monatshefte Fur Mathematik, 126 (1), 7-12. doi: 10.1007/BF01312452
Awyong, Poh Wah (1997). Convex sets with lattice point constraints. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 56 (1), 161-163. doi: 10.1017/S0004972700030835
Awyong, Poh Wah and Scott, Paul R. (1996). New inequalities for planar convex sets with lattice point constraints. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 54 (3), 391-396. doi: 10.1017/S0004972700021808
Awyong, Poh Wah and Scott, Paul R. (1996). Width-diameter relations for planar convex sets with lattice point constraints. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 53 (3), 469-478. doi: 10.1017/S0004972700017238
Awyong, Poh W. and Scott, Paul R. (1995). On the Maximal Circumradius of a Planar Convex Set Containing One Lattice Point. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 52 (1), 137-151.

Conference Papers

Hillock, Poh (2023). Transforming first year maths –opening doors to success. CETL-MSOR, Cardiff, Wales, 7 - 8 September 2023.
Hillock, Poh Wah (2023). Reimagining first year mathematics. South East Asia Conference on Education, Singapore, 10-13 February 2023.
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.
Hillock, Poh Wah (2022). Redesigning lectures for flexible learning in first year mathematics. Students Transtions Achievement Retention & Success (STARS), Online, 4-6 July 2022.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
Awyong, Poh Wah (1998). Geometric inequalities for planar convex sets with lattice point constraints. Convex and Discrete Geometry, Bydgoszcz, Poland, 27 August - 2 September 1998.

Thesis

Awyong, Poh Wah (1996). Convex sets with lattice point constraints. PhD Thesis, Department of Pure Mathematics, The University of Adelaide.

Research Reports

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.
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.

Areas of research

Combinatorics
Mathematical education
Pure mathematics