- Talk recording
- Slides (PDF)
Details of the institution and people involved
Year-long module for first-year students on Sport and Exercise Science and Health and Exercise Science degree programmes.
• Maths content taught from November to February, with exam in March.
• Approximately 150 students.
• Two Maths staff: one lecturer, one tutor. Ben McGovern from MASH helped to write questions.
Was this your first time using Numbas?
First time used summatively.
Had used for formative revision support, rather than homework.
Did you look at any other systems?
Looked at STACK a long time ago, and DEWIS.
Numbas was the only option usable at Bath. TEL team wanted a system which a wide range of people could use. Could use without any central support as SCORM through Moodle.
Academic subjects involved – e.g. maths, engineering, sciences.
Sport and Exercise Science and Health and Exercise Science degree programmes.
Main drivers for use – e.g. for formative / summative assessment; to reduce human marking load; the pandemic.
Marking load. 150 students and two staff.
Students have varied backgrounds: some with no maths since GCSE (age 16). “I really liked the idea of them being able to repeat homeworks”.
Repeatable assignments.
• Instant feedback.
• Well suited to calculation questions.
• Some appropriate questions already available.
• The exam closely resembles the homework assignments.
• Randomisation discourages copying.
• High student numbers, low staff numbers.
• Time invested pays off later (unlike marking written homework).
Because of the pandemic, the exam had to be online.
Summative in Numbas: summative assessment looks similar to formative assessment.
Aims for the Numbas material – e.g. to support transition; practice and revision during teaching; final exams.
Weekly homeworks and final summative assessment.
Homeworks released each week; remain available for more attempts for the rest of the course.
This is a service/transition course: students need this maths to use later on in the degree.
How the Numbas material was delivered – e.g. through a VLE; SCORM player or LTI tool; standalone on the web.
LTI and Moodle. Marks automatically sent to grade book.
When there were technical problems in a live assessment, I reviewed student attempts.
How much institutional support you got, or didn’t get – e.g. funding; dedicated staff time.
Central IT run LTI server.
Instructions from TEL team on setting up an online summative assessment.
Ben McGovern from MASH. MASH now supports development of modules.
Thomas decided to use Numbas for this module.
What you felt were the most important benefits of Numbas.
See drivers.
Real benefit next year: don’t have to write any new questions. Spend time now, so you have to spend less time later.
Your marking time shifts up front, with no marking to do after students submit their answers.
Maths assessment was in week 8 of 12. So no marking during the semester, and students got their marks really quickly. (released after everyone had completed the assessment, within a fortnight)
Pleased that students could look at their answers and the expected answers.
Has anyone else at your institution started using Numbas?
Lightning talk at Bath EduFest.
Gave a talk to CS department.
12 members of Bath Numbas user group.
Used by MASH for maths support – A Level maths content. On the web for students to use ad hoc.
Evidence of success: quotes from staff and students; statistics.
“I definitely want to use Numbas next year.”
“Running the test in Numbas also seemed to work well (apart from a few teething issues!) and certainly made the marking much easier!” – Sean Williams, unit convener (module leader).
Images – photos of people; screenshots of material.
Ambitions for the future – how will you develop your Numbas use further?
Want to award more partial credit.
Investigate explore mode for supporting students with lower-level maths.
Anything to say to someone else like you considering starting e-assessment?
Start with something low-stakes.
For service course: think about students’ backgrounds. e-assessment can help to bring everyone up to the required level.