Blogging from The Tenth Southern Hemisphere Conference on the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics

Dr Maritz Snyders

Traditional tutorials. Definitions:

• A tutorial is a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of the learning process.
• A period of instruction given, especially to one or two students

What is the purpose of a tutorial/practical session?

• Allow the students to apply knowledge outside of the normal situation
• Force them to do something practical

Traditional tutorials:

• Small groups, face to face (25-30 students) weekly meetings
• Students work through provided exercises
• Guidance from lecturer or assistant when stuck

Problems:

• Marking and workload intensive
• Scheduling due to variety of programmes doing same course
• Large numbers
• Available venues
• Available staff

How about Online tutorials?

Structure:

• Replacing face-to-face contact with exercises posted online
• Student completes exercises and submit assignments in their own time

Advantages:

• Fewer staff
• No scheduling problems
• Easier for large groups

Disadvantages:

• No immediate support
• Guessing
• No guarantee students actually write out detailed solutions
• Only written feedback without explanations

Can we design an online system that has all the advantages but without the disadvantages?

• 300+ students from many different backgrounds (someone from everywhere who was in a mathematics service course)
• Start after the first semester test
• Voluntary group
• Marks contributing to course assessment
• Set of questions posted on MOODLE site weekly
• Online assessment (mainly multiple-choice) for students to answer online (Respondus)
• System mark answers
• Detailed solutions  must be uploaded on MOODLE:
  • Typed in Word document
  • Scanned PDF version
  • Photo taken on cellphone
• Marks for online assessment only allocated if detailed workings is uploaded – not marked in detail, but spot checks
• Feedback given to students in the form of video correct solutions plus explanations (Camtasia)

Simon Goldstone at the Blended learning centre.

Video examples of explanations.

Tech aspects:

• Uses MOODLE (for about 9 years)
• Use the quiz, assignment and URL tools
• Grading:
  • out of 5
  • assignment graded out of 1 (1 for valid proof)
  • tut grade: quiz grade multiplied by assignment grade
• Reporting:
  • Activity completion
  • marks overview
  • engagement analytics

Outcomes:

• Tut group did better than the rest of the class even though in the first test they had done worse
• Positive responses in general

Changes for second phase:

• didn’t want to include it for the whole class. Used another voluntary group
• Sort out some technical issues
• Do different lecturers have an impact
• Many from the first group continued
• In the second semester, the tut groups did better – could just be a biasing effect.

• Now going to be compulsory for all students in 2016
• Start earlier, before test 1
• Increase the number of tutorials
• Involve more lecturers
• Correlations between performance and number of completed tutorials
• Analysis of time spent on tutorials