Assessment for Learning Resources for First Year Undergraduate Mathematics Modules (June 2015)
Channel: National Forum T&L
Date: 2015-11-22

Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund 2014

Project Lead: National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Other Partners

Athlone Institute of Technology
Dundalk Institute of Technology
Dublin City University

his project concerns the development of formative assessment techniques in order to improve the teaching and learning experience of first year undergraduate mathematics modules. The work will have two main components: we will develop formative assessment tools for use in the classroom; we will develop interactive tasks which can be used by students to monitor their own progress and support this progress with the identification of relevant existing e-learning material and the provision of new online resources.
In this project we aim to identify mathematical topics and concepts that are problematic for first year undergraduate students in Higher Education in Ireland, develop online activities and tasks to promote understanding of these concepts, and evaluate the effectiveness of these resources. We will conduct a survey of Mathematics and Engineering Departments in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ireland to ascertain the main topics and concepts that students find difficult in first year courses, and the types of resources that are already in use in relation to these topics and how they are disseminated. We will also conduct a survey of second-year students in the partner institutions to see with which topics the students themselves would like more help. We will review existing resources both nationally and internationally. Once the topics have been identified we will design formative assessment activities and online resources with the intention of affording students the opportunity to monitor and develop their understanding of the concepts involved. We envisage the formative assessment resources being used in modules and in Mathematics Support Centres to allow students to develop their conceptual understanding and we aim to support this development using screencasts and activities designed by the project team as well as existing resources identified as useful. We will endeavour to make all resources accessible for learners with disabilities.

We will also develop an audience response system which will allow lectures to ask questions in lectures and gather responses from students through their smart-phones or tablets. Students will be able to submit graphs, drawings and calculations and lecturers will be able to view the responses instantly.

We will conduct trials of all resources developed in this project in appropriate mathematics modules at the partner institutions. The resources will be modified as necessary based on the results of these trials and consultations with staff members and students. The final versions will be made available on the web for all institutions in Ireland to use.