Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge support from a number of people and organisations.
We would like to acknowledge Deakin University. In particular, this book received funding and support from Deakin Learning Futures as part of the CloudFirst project, and funding and support from the Deakin University Library. We are grateful for the support of Deakin University’s School of Information Technology. The materials and exercises in many of our topics were either inspired by or based on subjects previously offered within the university going back to 2005. Special acknowledgment goes to those who developed those topics and also mentored Simon in his early academic career: Michelle Cyganowski, Doreen Forrest, Susie Groves and Lynn Batten.
We would also like to thank the Shell Center for Mathematical Education, who not only granted us permission to use and modify their problems for use within this textbook (particularly in the section on interpreting visual information), but also, generously allowed us to license them under the CC BY NC 4.0 to help us in making this textbook open for re-use by the public.
A great many individuals came together to make this book possible. It would never have happened without the support of the people we’re about to shout out to.
Our illustrator, Erin Cheffers, has done an outstanding job and has really brought the book up to the next level. Thank you so much Erin, it was such a pleasure working with you and we hope to do so again in the near future!
The whole CloudFirst team deserve a shout out, and in particular we would like to acknowledge the fantastic advice and support we received from Lea Piskiewicz, Steven Brown and Darci Taylor. Lea’s influence is stamped like a fingerprint on every banner in the book and a great many of the other images, too. I would say that her assistance with finding an illustrator, copyright clearance and helping us to think through the visual elements of the book has been exceptional, except that all of Lea’s work is exceptional. So, let’s just say that this incredibly high level of work and support is what we’ve come to expect of Lea. Likewise, Darci Taylor and Steven Brown’s wise guidance, support and advice have helped us to deal with many tricky scenarios and we have appreciated their counsel.
From the Deakin University Library, we would like to acknowledge Angie Williamson, who has been a calming presence and a source of truth and stability throughout the entire process. We would also like to acknowledge the meticulous and detailed efforts of Astrid Bovell. We may have a few more grey hairs, but the book is so much the better for it and she has been a good sport throughout. We appreciate her timely and proactive support and advice – we couldn’t ask for more from either Angie or Astrid.
Finally, the biggest thanks of all goes from Chris Rawson to Associate Professor Simon James. Simon’s work has greatly improved the way I understand mathematics and its relationship to ‘the real world.’ Simon was pulled on to this project with a promise that it would be quick and easy; it has been anything but. Nonetheless he has been generous with his time and attentive to the minute details of the work and done so cheerfully. Simon is a man of many hidden talents. I admire him as much for his modesty as for his enormous abilities in teaching and in mathematics.
Double finally, Simon equally thanks Chris for our collaboration over the last few years. Having your work to be scrutinised by a learning designer is a very daunting and intimidating thing at first, but Chris has always been encouraging and supportive, while at the same time always offering ideas, criticism and insight that help me improve my teaching. I hope to continue working with him on more projects in the future!
