Minutes (2024.01.29)

Group Study Project Meeting Minutes: History of Numbers §

Date: 29th January, 2024 Time: 10:00 - 11:30 Location: INB2305 Attendees: Alex Rushworth (A.R.), William Fayers (W.F.), Katie Arnold (K.A.1), Tom Ward (T.W.), Kieran Alwill (K.A.2), Abbie Hall (A.H.), Nathan Grieve (N.G.)
Absent: n/a
Facilitator: Alex Rushworth (A.R.)
Minutes Prepared By: William Fayers (W.F.)

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Meeting Agenda §

1. Introduction of group members.
2. Assignment of project roles.
3. Initial discussion on project approach.
4. Next Steps

1. Introduction of Group Members §

The group began by meeting with each other, familiarising with one another and matching the names to the faces. Shortly after an explanation of the Group Study, the group was instructed by the module co-ordinator to assign roles to one another.

2. Assignment of Project Roles §

After some discussion, the group decided on the following roles and responsibilities:

• Alex Rushworth (A.R.) as the Chairperson, responsible for managing the group’s activities.
• William Fayers (W.F.) took on the role of Secretary, tasked with organising internal deadlines and taking minutes.
• Katie Arnold (K.A.1) was assigned as Report Coordinator, overseeing the report’s format and submission.
• Nathan Grieve (N.G.) assumed the role of Presentation Coordinator, focusing on the presentation’s format and submission.
• Tom Ward (T.W.) was designated as Research Coordinator, managing the group’s research materials.
• Kieran Alwill (K.A.2) became the ICT Coordinator, responsible for data sharing and meeting organisation.
• Abbie Hall (A.H.) took the role of Engagement Coordinator, ensuring effective communication within the group and with the supervisor.

Also note that the naming convention used henceforth (the initials) was somewhat difficult to come across, as both K.A.1. and K.A.2. share the exact same initials down their middle names, hence we decided on the numbering system based on their chronological order.

3. Initial Discussion on Project Approach §

The group outlined an initial structure for the report, shown below:

• Table of Contents.
• Introduction (one to two pages written by the group).
  • The group members and their contributions.
  • The scientific issues and arguments to the developed in the report.
• Chapter of the Main Body of the Report (four to five pages - approximately 2000 words - written by an individual).
  • The author’s name should appear under the chapter title, and/or in the footer of each page.
  • References in the text.
  • Bibliography at end of chapter.
• Group Analysis and Conclusion (one to two pages, written by the group).
  • This should address issues raised in the introduction and draw together threads from all the individual contributions.
• Appendices.
  • Minutes of all group meetings.

The group decided that each chapter would be taken on by a different individual, where each individual could write about a unique century AD, or millennium BC, ensuring most of history is covered comprehensively and the workload is fairly even.

The group also planned that our report would follow a chronological order, as follows:

1. Table of Contents
2. Introduction
3. Chapters
   1. 2nd-3rd Millennium BC (A.H.)
   2. 1st Millennium BC (K.A.1.)
   3. 12th Century AD (K.A.2.)
   4. 16th Century AD (N.G.)
   5. 18th Century AD (W.F.)
   6. 19th Century AD (A.R.)
   7. 20th Century AD (T.W.)
4. Analysis and Conclusion
5. Appendices

4. Next Steps §

Moving on, a group chat was set up on Snapchat for internal communications, as well as a shared OneDrive folder for file sharing (incl. research materials, templates, and drafts), both by the ICT Coordinator K.A.2.

Next,

• All members are to begin preliminary research on their chapters, not yet making an outline, but getting comfortable with their assigned periods.
• K.A.1. will share helpful resources for developing the report.
• K.A.2. will book our next meeting spaces.

Closing §

A.R. closed the meeting, summarising all of the aforementioned, and we were later informed by K.A.2. that the next meeting will be on Monday, 5th February in INB2305.

Thus, the meeting concluded at 11:30, with all members feeling excited to get started on the project.

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