Improving on-demand informative feedback for students is a big part of the teaching vision and goals at the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
To this end, the college chose Maplesoft’s testing and assessment platform, Maple T.A. to encourage students in active learning and independent study.
The college’s use of Maple T.A. began when senior lecturer Dr Nicola Wilkin incorporated the software to address a constant hurdle in her classroom. Incoming students were extremely keen and very competent in math but had a variety of different qualifications and backgrounds.
“The students on my course were motivated and capable of handling the material well. However they each had different strengths and weaknesses. The skills they were bringing to class varied significantly, so keeping them all challenged and supported required a lot of time and energy,” Wilkin said.
In order to most effectively reach every student, a blanket approach would not do. Wilkin incorporated Maple T.A. into her first year math course to give students customized opportunities to practice, learn and test their skills.
May 18, 2016
