Transitioning to e-Assessment in Mathematics Education (June 2015)
Channel: National Forum T&L
Date: 2015-11-22

Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund 2014

Lead Partner  University College Cork
Other Partners

Cork Institute of Technology

The goal of this proposal is to integrate appropriate e-assessment, including e-self-assessment, into key first year mathematics modules at UCC and CIT The initiative aims to (i) increase student engagement, (ii) improve students’ key numerate skills through formative feedback, (iii) manage lecturer workload, and (iv) build capacity so that e-assessment can become a mainstream component of mathematics courses, maximizing its potential for improved student learing. Emphasis is placed on creating formative content that students transitioning from second level will find engaging and user-friendly on a simple intuitive platform that facilitates progress This is achieved by leveraging the potential of the freely available NUMBAS e-assessment tool developed by mathematicians at the University of Newcastle An integral part of the proposal is a rigorous evaluation of the impact of the content on student engagement and performance It is envisaged that successful integration of formative e-assessment into large first year courses will lead to re-design of these courses (see, for example, Nicol, D 2009 ‘Assessment for learner self-regulation: enhancing achievement in the first year using learning technologies’, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 34, 335-352 ).
NUMBAS is already in use in a small pilot programme at CIT. Content is also being developed for use in a large first year service course at UCC. Feedback from the pilot at CIT is positive. CIT lecturers shared their experience at a workshop ‘Transition to Third-level Maths; the increasing relevance and development of Maths Support E-assessment in Mathematics’ held at CIT on 12 May this year. Dr Bill Foster (University of Newcastle) delivered the keynote address. The present proposal formalizes these ad hoc initiatives at CIT and UCC, in order to maximize the impact of e-assessment in this setting. This project has potential wider impact beyond mathematics into the broader STEM area and to courses on offer across science, engineering, commerce and arts faculties.

The language of mathematics, its particular symbols, syntax and formatting, presents unique challenges in an e-learning environment. Online resources can appear static or dated. The human-computer interface (HCI) can compound students’ difficulty with mathematics if the interface does not ‘understand’/cannot interpret students’ responses. Artificial limitations of the system can restrict lecturers in terms of the resources they can provide to students. It is only recently that these difficulties have begun to be overcome (Wolfram ‘Alpha’ and ‘MathJax’ are good examples). NUMBAS ( https://numbas mathcentre ac uk/ ) is a freely-available e-assessment tool for mathematics. It is based, at the lecturers’ end, on the LaTeX mathematical typesetting system with which all mathematicians are familiar. NUMBAS has the ability to generate ‘scorm’ packages which integrate with most institutional online learning platforms including the Blackboard platform. Furthermore, this facilitates integration of exercise sheets/in-class tests with grade management capabilities of these platforms. As such, it is an ideal platform on which to build formative e-assessment content specially suited, in the first instance, to entry-level mathematics courses at CIT and UCC.